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Antenna / RF Front-End Engineer (Contract)
About the Role
You'll design the antenna and RF front-end at the heart of a counter-UAV radar sensor - radiating elements, arrays, and feed networks - taking them from concept through EM simulation to measured validation. This is a contract engagement, so you'll need to work independently and contribute quickly. We care most about breadth across antenna design methods on a master's-level foundation; senior experience is a strong plus. You'll have access to high-end measurement facilities - including anechoic-chamber time in Kyiv (paid travel) - to characterize and iterate on real hardware, not just simulate. This is a key role to ensure our first launch cements our reputation in the industry - make your mark with Valkyrie!
What You'll Do
- Design and optimize antenna elements and arrays - single-element and phased-array - for mmWave operation
- Evaluate tradeoffs across frequency bands and packaging: select the band and topology that best balance range, resolution, aperture size, and environmental performance for a given sensing requirement
- Design corporate-fed and series-fed feed networks for phased-array and MIMO systems, controlling amplitude/phase distribution to hit beamforming, sidelobe, and radiation-pattern targets
- Prototype and compare integration approaches - substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW), launch-in-package, and alternatives - to find the best fit for compact integration
- Model and optimize performance - gain, beamwidth, sidelobe level, VSWR/S11, mutual coupling, scan range, grating-lobe behavior - against sensing requirements
- Design MIMO arrays for multi-channel sensing: element spacing, channel isolation, and virtual-aperture formation for angular resolution
- Validate designs on the bench (VNA, anechoic/OTA range), correlating measured results against simulation and documenting deviations
- Work directly with the DSP and radar-systems engineers we're hiring in parallel - antenna, signal processing, and architecture designed together, not in isolation. You'll have real influence over the system design, not just your own slice
- Design to the RF front-end architecture - channel count, transceiver interface, phase coherence - and feed antenna feasibility back as the system evolves
- Prepare finished antenna and feed-network designs for handoff: specify antenna-critical constraints and review layout through bring-up
Required Qualifications
- Master's in Electrical Engineering, Microwave/RF Engineering, or a closely related field - or equivalent hands-on antenna design experience with the skills below. PhD a plus
- Prior work on radar or RF sensing systems, not communications-only antenna work
- Hands-on experience across multiple antenna design methodologies: SIW, launch-in-package, phased arrays, MIMO systems, series-fed and corporate-fed networks. Breadth here matters more to us than years
- Strong feed-network fundamentals: power dividers, phase shifters, impedance matching, loss/isolation and beam-squint tradeoffs
- MATLAB/Simulink for array-factor synthesis, pattern analysis, and beamforming/system-level modeling (e.g. Antenna and Phased Array System Toolboxes)
- A track record of carrying designs from concept through simulation, prototyping, and measurement validation - not simulation alone.
- Proficiency with EM simulation software (HFSS, CST Microwave Studio, or equivalent)
Preferred / Bonus
- Working knowledge of multilayer PCB constraints (stackup, manufacturability) - enough to hand off cleanly to a PCB engineer
Engagement Details
- Type: Contract / consulting
- Rate: [TBD]
- Duration: [TBD]
- Location: Remote/Hybrid
- Hybrid: Temporary travel to Kyiv for on-site testing, heavily preferred (expenses paid) - primarily anechoic-chamber characterization of candidate designs, with possible field testing.
- Long-term: Strong performance could lead to an ongoing or permanent role.
- Start: ASAP
