Wireless Systems Engineer

About Hydronet

Hydronet is a deep-tech startup building next-generation, AI-powered, and software-defined underwater sensing, communication, networking, and analytics technology. We are on a mission to revolutionize connected underwater intelligence.

The Role

We are hiring a Wireless Systems Engineer to drive physical-layer algorithm development and prototyping for our core platform. You'll design, simulate, implement, and validate wireless communication algorithms — and see them through to working hardware, from early prototypes to deployed products. This is a hands-on role with significant technical ownership in a startup environment, working closely with system architects, software and hardware engineers, and product leadership.

Responsibilities

• Design, simulate, implement, and validate communication algorithms — including modern AI/ML-driven approaches — and see them through the full lifecycle, from prototype to product.
• Build simulation models (e.g., MATLAB, Python, C/C ) to validate algorithm performance under realistic channel and impairment conditions, and to support design trade-offs for production systems.
• Implement, optimize, and harden algorithms on target platforms (FPGAs, SoCs, SDRs, or DSPs), taking them from early prototypes through to deployable, product-grade implementations.
• Conduct lab, tank, and in-water field testing over real underwater channels; characterize system performance, validate against product requirements, and iterate based on measured results.
• Collaborate cross-functionally on system architecture, transducer/optical front-end integration, and product requirements to ensure algorithms meet performance, reliability, and manufacturability targets.
• Document designs, test results, and trade-off analyses to support team alignment, product release readiness, and IP development.

Qualifications

Candidates should meet one of the following profiles:

• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Wireless Communications, Signal Processing, or a closely related field, with demonstrated experience in physical-layer algorithm development, implementation, and prototyping; OR
• Master's degree in a related field, combined with 3–4 years of industry experience in product-level development of communication systems, with a proven track record taking physical-layer designs from concept through implementation.

In addition, all candidates should have:

• Strong foundation in digital signal processing, communication theory, and physical-layer system design.
• Hands-on experience with simulation tools and at least one prototyping platform (FPGA, SDR, or embedded DSP).
• Comfort operating in a startup environment — adaptable, self-directed, and able to navigate ambiguity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with underwater acoustic communications, sonar systems, or visible light / optical wireless communications.
• Familiarity with software-defined radio platforms adapted for acoustic or optical front-ends, FPGA development (Verilog/VHDL or HLS), or real-time embedded DSP.
• Experience with OFDM, spread spectrum, adaptive equalization, or other techniques for time-varying, multipath-heavy channels.
• Experience with link-level and system-level simulations, channel impairments, and channel modeling.
• Lab and field experience with hydrophones, transducers, photodetectors, oscilloscopes, signal generators, and in-water testing.
• Experience applying machine learning or deep learning to communications problems (e.g., learned channel estimation/equalization, neural decoders, autoencoder-based end-to-end communication, reinforcement learning for adaptive transmission).
• Familiarity with ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow) and deploying ML models on embedded or real-time platforms.

Work Authorization

Due to the nature of our current projects, candidates must be U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents (green card holders).