Our Company

ARA is a C5ISR company that designs, manufactures, tests, and installs cutting edge antenna technologies to keep our joint forces secure, superior and safe. We create and deliver a vest array of products for both military and civilian applications that combine innovative discoveries from companies we’ve acquired, including SI2 Technologies and AQYR, whose technologies complement and enhance our trusted systems. Our capabilities span from Electronic Warfare and Military Communications to Radar and Satellite Systems. For more than 60 years, ARA has provided our military with unparalleled information, improved situational awareness, immediate threat detection and precision targeting.

From ideation to installation, ARA supplies unique antenna systems in both high-volume and smaller quantities to meet our customers’ needs and ensure success. Our US locations have fully staffed outdoor antenna test ranges, engineers, and on-site manufacturing lines and machine shops.

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly motivated Principal Systems Engineer to support existing contracts and R&D. The Billerica, MA facility develops new unique products and solutions to meet urgent needs in the MILCOM, RADAR, SATCOM, and SIGINT/EW markets. Ideal candidates would be a system engineer with experience leading teams designing, integrating, and delivering Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) solutions. The ideal candidate understands the use cases for IFF in surveillance, air traffic control, and range instrumentation and will have experience working with commercial and military customers where the interrogator and transponder work with and without a cryptographic computer.

Responsibilities

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• In this role you will serve as the technical lead Radar products and be responsible for system design, system architectures, requirement development system testing, field test and demonstration.
• Support planning, design and execution of integration and verification tests for hardware and software modifications
• Conduct system level analysis, simulation and modeling as needed.
• Perform system trades on COTS box interrogators.
• Work with subcontractors to provide an interoperable IFF solution and integrate with the primary Radar system.
• Performing System engineering including use cases, requirements, and V&V development
• Update the engineering test environment for use by the hardware, software and systems test teams including configuration management of hardware, software, and firmware.
• Oversee Rapid prototyping HW in the loop testing, Agile product development HW & SW.
• Oversee integration and test activities for demonstrations. 

Position Qualifications

Competency Statement(s)

• Adaptability - Adapts to change, open to new ideas and responsibilities.
• Communication - Ability to clearly communicate and interact with others.
• Decision Making - Able to reach a decision, takes thoughtful approach when considering options, seeks input from others, makes difficult decisions.
• Employee Management - Defines responsibilities, motivates employees, delegates well.
• Ethics - Honest, accountable, maintains confidentiality.
• Initiative - Ability to take on task before being asked.
• Provides strong leadership, sets a good example, skilled decision maker, motivator and encourager.
• Quality - Strives to eliminate errors, accurate work is a priority, seeks opportunities to improve products/services.

Other Attributes

• Self-motivated, Take initiative, Ownership and accountable.
• Attention to detail
• Comfortable working and leading small multi-disciplinary team in rapid spiral development process.
• Comfortable working in Field, participation in Customer Demonstrations
• Creative Problem Solving
• Superb interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Comfortable leading multi-disciplinary teams
• Comfortable with customer engagement on Technical Topics.

Experience and Skills

• In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.
• Minimum 6 years with BSEE (4 years with MSEE) of experience in a lead system engineering
• In depth Knowledge of IFF RADAR System (Ideally Mode 5), Phased Array antennas, RADAR control and Data processing.
• Customizing the basic capabilities of a COTS box interrogator to meet customer SSR requirements, DoD AIMS requirements and Mission Use Cases to support the mission.
• Knowledge of the EUROCONTROL ASTERIX spec, ICAO Annex 10, STANAG
• Experience with the DoD AIMS Certification Process across both low-level design and System integration
• Experience with IFF Test Sets and IFF cryptographic equipment are a plus
• Experience with creating test plan, and or conducting performance analysis
• Experience with System Integration and Testing on at least one RADAR system project.
• Experience with ENV & EMI testing (MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461)
• Experience with RF system testing Network Analyzers, Spectrum Analyzers
• Experience with Design for Reliability, Human Factors and Safety Engineering
• Experience integrating HW and SW systems.

Education

Bachelor’s degree Electrical Engineering or Physics, or (ideally MS in EE or Physics)

Antenna Research Associates, Inc. and its subsidiaries encourage diversity in the workplace; we are an Equal Opportunity Employer. Race/Color/Gender/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/Religion/National Origin/Disability/Veteran