Senior RF Hardware Engineer

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with omniscient systems purpose-built for today’s realities. Designed and built by top U.S. military veterans and Silicon Valley innovators, CHAOS Industries’ products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats. In a world where technological threats move at unprecedented speed, CHAOS Industries delivers advanced sensing and detection solutions that give the ultimate advantage: time.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised $1B in total funding from leading investors including 8VC, Accel, and NEA. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com.

Role Overview

We are seeking a proactive and detail-oriented Senior RF Hardware Engineer to contribute to the successful development of our electromagnetic warfare product line. This role is critical to transforming our radar systems into spectrum sensing systems by designing, integrating, and verifying the RF front-end and digital processing hardware (RFSoC/FPGA). The Senior Engineer will contribute to the Spectrum Sensing Team in the design of RF architectures, the implementation of analog and digital hardware, the integration and implementation of complex algorithms, and the execution of field demonstrations of the technology. They will collaborate closely with Business Development (BD), Production, and other Engineering teams.

Responsibilities

As a key contributor to the Spectrum Sensing Team, the Senior Engineer will play an integral role in developing and redefining the passive radar system into a distributed spectrum sensing system, with a focus on hardware development. The day-to-day will be diverse, engaging, and intellectually stimulating, with a direct impact on pushing the boundaries of sensing technology and application. Key responsibilities include:

• Design and architect RF receiver chains, including antennas, LNAs, up/down converters, and filters, optimized for wideband spectrum sensing and geolocation
• Develop, implement, and verify digital signal processing hardware on FPGAs or RFSoC platforms, including high-speed interfaces, data acquisition, and channelization
• Design and execute RF link budget analysis, cascaded noise figure, and linearity calculations to ensure system performance meets mission requirements
• Develop control software for RF receiver hardware
• Prototype and test RF/SDR hardware using laboratory equipment, including spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, power meters, and arbitrary waveform generators
• This role will require periodic travel, up to 30%
  
  

Minimum Requirements

• B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field
• 5 years of relevant development experience
• Proven track record in designing, developing, or testing RF sensing systems or subsystems such as receivers, antennas, or signal processors
• Strong understanding of RF propagation principles, RF link budget analysis, and analog/mixed-signal hardware design
• Expertise in FPGA/RFSoC development and hardware description languages for high-speed signal processing implementation
• Experience with RF components and systems, including SDRs, transmitters, receivers, and antennas
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to clearly document technical details and present findings
• Must be able to work on-site 3-5 days per week in Hawthorne CA or Washington D.C.
• U.S. citizen
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance
  
  

Preferred Requirements: 

• B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field
• Current U.S. security clearance 
• Experience using RF laboratory equipment, including spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, power meters, and arbitrary waveform generators
• Experience controlling laboratory equipment remotely
• Proficiency in programming languages like Python, C , or MATLAB
• Experience with software defined radios (SDR)
• Experience with agile development tools like JIRA and Confluence 
• Experience in DoD, military, or other Government environment performing in a related subject area (e.g. engineering, computer science, etc.) in a fast-paced, dynamic environment 
• Expertise in electromagnetic spectrum sensing
  
  

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k ( 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 200 employees and counting across 5 global offices
  
  

Salary range: $180,000 - $230,000

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.