Senior Software Defined Radio (SDR) Engineer

Senior Software Defined Radio (SDR) Engineer

Location

Arlington, VA

Category: Software Engineering

Schedule (FT/PT): Full Time

Travel Required: Yes, 10% of the time

Shift: Day

Remote Type: No Remote

Clearance: Secret

External Referral Program: Eligible

Referral Bonus Amount: $2000

Sector: Defense

Electronic Warfare (EW) is a growing enterprise — protecting the warfighter and our national security against ever-adapting threats. Our division currently has an exciting opportunity for a Software Defined Radio (SDR) Engineer to perform design, development, and hardware/software integration in Arlington, VA for the Electronic Warfare Division.

Our division primarily focuses on research & development and advanced prototyping, transforming state-of-the-art signal processing algorithms into real-time software systems deployed on advanced RF platforms.

The successful candidate will be an individual contributor responsible for designing, developing, and integrating high-performance SDR solutions using Ettus Research USRP platforms. This role requires expertise in real-time RF signal processing, low-latency streaming architectures, and software development close to the hardware layer. The ideal candidate is comfortable building production-grade SDR systems from the ground up and optimizing them for demanding operational environments.

Primary Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy advanced SDR systems using Ettus Research USRP hardware
• Develop high-performance SDR applications using:
• C++
• UHD (USRP Hardware Driver)
• Implement and optimize:
• Real-time DSP pipelines
• Custom waveform generation
• Modulation/demodulation chains
• RF streaming architectures
• High-throughput signal processing systems
• Interface directly with:
• FPGA-based SDR architectures
• High-speed Ethernet transport layers
• RF front ends and synchronization systems
• Develop software for low-latency and real-time RF applications
• Perform RF system integration, testing, calibration, and troubleshooting
• Analyze and optimize:
• Spectral performance
• Timing synchronization
• Throughput bottlenecks
• RF impairments
• Integrate SDR platforms into larger communications, sensing, or EW architectures
• Produce technical documentation, interface definitions, and software architecture artifacts
• Support lab and field testing activities, travel up to 15%

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in:
• Electrical Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Computer Science
• Related technical discipline
• 8+ years of experience including strong hands-on experience with:
• Ettus Research USRP platforms (X310/X410, N320/N321, X440, B-Series platforms)
• Strong proficiency in:
• Modern C++
• Python
• Linux systems programming, including Linux performance optimization
• Multithreaded and concurrent software architectures
• Experience deploying systems with Red Hat Linux
• Experience developing with:
• UHD API
• Real-time streaming systems
• High-rate packet processing
• Socket programming
• Low-latency software architectures
• Ettus RF Network On Chip (RFNoC) architecture
• Strong understanding of:
• RF fundamentals
• Wireless communications systems
• IQ signal processing
• Digital modulation techniques
• Wideband RF architectures
• Spectrum analysis
• Experience implementing:
• OFDM
• QPSK/QAM
• Channel estimation
• Synchronization algorithms
• FFT/channelization pipelines
• Adaptive filtering
• Signal detection and classification
• Time/frequency synchronization
• Position requires an active Secret security clearance or the ability to obtain and maintain one

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with:
• Electronic Warfare (EW)
• SIGINT/ELINT systems
• Tactical communications
• Spectrum operations
• Radar or RF sensing systems
• Familiarity with:
• Xilinx FPGA architectures
• Vivado
• Verilog/VHDL
• Hardware acceleration pipelines
• Experience with:
• 10/40/100 GigE transport
• GPSDO/PPS synchronization
• Distributed SDR architectures
• Real-time operating systems
• Familiarity with:
• MIMO systems
• Beamforming
• SATCOM architectures
• Active Top Secret clearance preferred

Desired Traits

• Strong systems engineering mindset
• Ability to troubleshoot complex RF/software interactions
• Comfortable working directly with hardware in lab and field environments
• Capable of building production-grade SDR software from the ground up
• Strong debugging, optimization, and performance tuning skills
• Self-starter capable of operating in fast-paced R&D environments

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.