Radar System Architect

About the Role

We've already proven the concept of a counter-UAV radar sensor with a first-generation prototype. This role owns the redesign that carries those lessons into a production-grade sensor, architected from requirements up, with the systems planning to do it right. You'll also own the system architecture, from the waveform, detection strategy to the system-level requirements and budgets that define it. You'll drive the RF chain and transceiver architecture hand-in-hand with the antenna engineer, converging on what's actually feasible to build while setting the DSP chain direction. Your success is our success - make your mark with Valkyrie Dynamics.

What You’ll Do

• Own the radar waveform and detection strategy
  • Chirp/FMCW design
  • Range-Doppler processing detection budgets (SNR, integration, CFAR)
  • Angle estimation to detect small, low-RCS UAV targets at high closing velocity
• Define and maintain the system-level requirements and budgets
  • Detection range, range/Doppler/angular resolution, update rate, power, thermal, and size
  • Write verifiable requirements so that meeting them validates the sensor
• Evaluate approaches across the integration spectrum, cascaded transceiver ICs, an integrated system-on-module, or a discrete RF front-end
  • Collaborate with the antenna engineer on a viable solution for channel count, LO/clock distribution, and phase-coherence strategy across the array
• Own and control the interfaces between subsystems
  • Ensure end-to-end signal chain from antenna to detection output holds together as one coherent system including:
    • Timing and synchronization (frame/trigger)
    • Transceiver-to-compute data path (sample rates, formats, latency/throughput)
    • RF/antenna boundary
• Own and continuously evolve the system model - effectively a digital twin of the sensor. During the evolution:
  • Maintain ICDs
  • Meet and manage performance metrics
  • Grow model fidelity over time, introducing the non-idealities and non-linearities that matter as complexity increases (phase noise, PA compression, quantization, channel mismatch, mutual coupling), and trace observed behavior back to the origin.
• Collaborate with the DSP engineer on the waveform and detection design
  • You lead the strategy, they own the implementation and pressure-test it for compute load, memory, and timeline - until the architecture is both performant and buildable
• Converge the open architecture questions to decisions on a schedule
  • Committing with the evidence available, revisiting only when new data (a budget, a measurement) actually changes the answer

Required Qualifications

• Radar systems you’ve architected and shipped end-to-end - from waveform and detection through the RF chain
• Strong grounding in radar detection theory
  • FMCW/chirp waveforms, range-Doppler processing, CFAR and SNR/integration, and angle estimation
  • Target-tracking fluency to set the requirements (update rate, track accuracy)
• Hands-on MATLAB for system-level radar modeling (Radar Toolbox) - you’ve built and evolved system models, not just read their output
• Track record personally owning and closing the quantitative budgets 
  • Link and detection budgets above all - and holding the design to them
• RF chain architecture experience with multi-channel/MIMO transceivers and the coherence challenges of scaling channel count, from LO/clock distribution to phase alignment across the array
• Able to work independently on a contract basis
• Must pass company security procedures
• Must communicate effectively in English

Preferred / Bonus

• Counter-UAV or defense radar experience specifically - small, low-RCS, maneuvering targets in cluttered environments
• Hands-on experience with integrated radar transceiver SoCs including integration tradeoffs they bring
• MATLAB Simulink

Engagement Details

• Type: Contract-to-permanent position
  • Starts as a contract engagement with an explicit track to a permanent lead role for the right candidate
• Rate: [TBD]
• Duration: [TBD]
• Location: Remote/Hybrid
   
  • Hybrid: Must be able to temporary travel to Kyiv for on-site testing is heavily preferred (all expenses paid) - system bring-up and field validation against real targets, correlating measured performance against the model.

NOTE: We are currently in the process of getting authorized to provide reservation from mobilization