What are the responsibilities and job description for the Radar Signal Processing Engineer III position at Michigan Technological University?
Sub Department: Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI)
Michigan Technological University is an R1 technological research university founded in 1885 in Houghton. Our rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's scenic Upper Peninsula and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Research focus areas include defense, health, energy, automotive, environment, and aerospace.
The area’s waters, forests, and snowfall support year-round recreation, including skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, and paddling. The University is an integral part of the region, supported by a friendly and welcoming community that takes pride in being a true college town. We embrace our size, climate, sense of adventure, and originality.
Summary
At Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI), we develop advanced technologies that help our nation better understand, sense, and operate within complex natural and human-made environments. Our work spans multidisciplinary research and applied development, advancing ideas from foundational concepts to mission-relevant prototypes. We are seeking a Radar Signal Processing Engineer III to lead development of advanced radar sensing capabilities supporting national security missions. This role focuses on designing and evaluating radar signal processing algorithms, developing sensing architectures, and advancing radar technologies through applied research, development, and evaluation. The successful candidate will serve as a technical leader within research programs, contributing to proposal development, mentoring junior staff, and delivering innovative sensing solutions aligned with sponsor needs.
Responsibilities And Essential Duties
WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.
Required Training And Other Conditions Of Employment
Every employee at Michigan Technological University will receive the following 4 required trainings; additional training may be required by the department.
Required University Training
Background Check
Offers of employment are contingent upon and not considered finalized until the required background check has been performed and the results received and assessed.
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) % (1=100%)
1.0
FLSA Status
Exempt
Appointment Term
12 months
Pay Rate/Salary
Salary Is Commensurate With Experience And Qualifications.
Title of Position Supervisor
Research Engineer III
Posting Type
Internal and External
Dependent on Funding
Yes.
This position is contingent upon the continued availability of external funding.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or accommodations during Michigan Tech’s hiring process please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or hr-help@mtu.edu.
Other Conditions Of Employment
Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without the need of an employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of your appointment, and maintain eligibility without sponsorship throughout your appointment.
Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. Michigan Tech will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the Michigan Tech Public Safety.
In compliance with the federal Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (DFSCA) and its implementing regulations (34 CFR Part 86), Michigan Tech is committed to maintaining a drugfree campus environment and actively promoting the health and safety of its community. Find our notice that outlines the University's policies, legal sanctions, health risks, and available support resources related to the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol.
Required Education, Certifications, Licensures* (minimum requirements)
Michigan Technological University is an R1 technological research university founded in 1885 in Houghton. Our rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's scenic Upper Peninsula and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Research focus areas include defense, health, energy, automotive, environment, and aerospace.
The area’s waters, forests, and snowfall support year-round recreation, including skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, and paddling. The University is an integral part of the region, supported by a friendly and welcoming community that takes pride in being a true college town. We embrace our size, climate, sense of adventure, and originality.
Summary
At Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI), we develop advanced technologies that help our nation better understand, sense, and operate within complex natural and human-made environments. Our work spans multidisciplinary research and applied development, advancing ideas from foundational concepts to mission-relevant prototypes. We are seeking a Radar Signal Processing Engineer III to lead development of advanced radar sensing capabilities supporting national security missions. This role focuses on designing and evaluating radar signal processing algorithms, developing sensing architectures, and advancing radar technologies through applied research, development, and evaluation. The successful candidate will serve as a technical leader within research programs, contributing to proposal development, mentoring junior staff, and delivering innovative sensing solutions aligned with sponsor needs.
Responsibilities And Essential Duties
- Lead development of radar signal processing algorithms for detection, estimation, tracking, classification, and SAR imaging.
- Design and evaluate radar signal processing chains for sensing applications, including RF and electronic warfare environments.
- Develop modeling and simulation frameworks to evaluate radar system performance and sensing concepts.
- Incorporate radar phenomenology and propagation effects into modeling and algorithm development.
- Design and execute experiments using radar datasets and prototype sensing systems.
- Collaborate with hardware, RF, and systems engineering teams to integrate algorithms into prototype platforms.
- Serve as task lead on research projects and mentor junior engineers.
- Lead development of technical approaches for proposals and contribute to capture strategy.
- Present technical results to sponsors and external stakeholders.
- Contribute to publications, conference presentations, and technical reports.
- Commit to learning about continuous improvement strategies and applying them to everyday work. Actively engage in University continuous improvement initiatives.
- Apply safety-related knowledge, skills, and practices to everyday work.
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or related field.
- 8–12 years relevant experience
- Experience developing radar algorithms using MATLAB, Python, or C .
- Experience with radar modeling, simulation, and data analysis.
- Demonstrated ability to lead technical tasks or projects.
- MS or PhD Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or related field.
- 12 years relevant experience
- Experience as Principal Investigator (PI) on research projects.
- Previously lead the execution of research projects, including technical scope, schedule, and deliverables.
- Ability to provide technical direction for radar sensing approaches within research efforts.
- Ability to obtain a U.S. Department of Defense security clearance, which requires United States citizenship. Obtaining a national security clearance while holding a dual citizenship will not be possible when the foreign country poses a risk to the national security of the United States.
- Strong expertise in radar signal processing and statistical signal processing.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Experience with at least one of the following: radar phenomenology and propagation effects, SAR image formation and radar imaging techniques, electronic warfare or RF signal exploitation, radar/RF classification and feature extraction, software defined radio or prototype radar systems, GPU/FPGA acceleration or high-performance computing.
- Active government security clearance at Secret level or higher.
- Demonstrated success in, or potential future contributions to, working with persons with a wide variety of backgrounds and viewpoints.
- Experience with two or more of the following: radar phenomenology and propagation effects, SAR image formation and radar imaging techniques, electronic warfare or RF signal exploitation, radar/RF classification and feature extraction, software defined radio or prototype radar systems, GPU/FPGA acceleration or high-performance computing.
WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.
Required Training And Other Conditions Of Employment
Every employee at Michigan Technological University will receive the following 4 required trainings; additional training may be required by the department.
Required University Training
- Employee Safety Overview
- Anti-Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation Training
- Annual Data Security Training
- Annual Title IX Training
Background Check
Offers of employment are contingent upon and not considered finalized until the required background check has been performed and the results received and assessed.
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) % (1=100%)
1.0
FLSA Status
Exempt
Appointment Term
12 months
Pay Rate/Salary
Salary Is Commensurate With Experience And Qualifications.
Title of Position Supervisor
Research Engineer III
Posting Type
Internal and External
Dependent on Funding
Yes.
This position is contingent upon the continued availability of external funding.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or accommodations during Michigan Tech’s hiring process please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or hr-help@mtu.edu.
Other Conditions Of Employment
Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without the need of an employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of your appointment, and maintain eligibility without sponsorship throughout your appointment.
Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. Michigan Tech will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the Michigan Tech Public Safety.
In compliance with the federal Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (DFSCA) and its implementing regulations (34 CFR Part 86), Michigan Tech is committed to maintaining a drugfree campus environment and actively promoting the health and safety of its community. Find our notice that outlines the University's policies, legal sanctions, health risks, and available support resources related to the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol.
Required Education, Certifications, Licensures* (minimum requirements)