Job description

About Us: Swan delivers the future of defense and industry through scalable autonomous products. Swan is backed by leading defense VCs including a16z's American Dynamism fund. DSP / SDR RECEIVER ENGINEER — NAVIGATION & COMMUNICATIONS We are looking for a DSP / SDR engineer to help design, implement, and test software-defined radio receivers for navigation and communications applications. The role is focused on signal-processing receiver design: acquisition, tracking, synchronization, Doppler estimation, timing recovery, and real-time processing of RF signals. The ideal candidate has hands-on experience building receiver signal-processing chains for GNSS, satellite communications, radar, wireless PHY, spectrum monitoring, or related RF systems. RESPONSIBILITIES - Design and implement SDR receiver algorithms for real-world RF signals. - Develop acquisition, tracking, synchronization, and measurement-generation pipelines. - Estimate Doppler, carrier phase, timing, delay, and signal quality metrics. - Work with SDR platforms such as USRP/UHD, GNU Radio, RFSoC, or FPGA-based systems. - Analyze collected RF data and debug receiver performance in lab and field environments. - Evaluate waveform structure, modulation, channel behavior, and receiver implementation tradeoffs. - Support navigation and communications experiments using GNSS, LEO satellite downlinks, or other opportunistic signals. DESIRED BACKGROUND Strong candidates may come from one or more of the following areas: - GNSS / PNT receiver design - Satellite communications modem or PHY development - Radar signal processing - Electronic warfare, ELINT, SIGINT, or spectrum monitoring - Wireless PHY / LTE / 5G baseband processing - Real-time SDR or FPGA-based signal processing USEFUL SKILLS - SDR development with GNU Radio, USRP/UHD, RFSoC, or FPGA SDR platforms - Real-time DSP implementation - Signal acquisition and tracking loops - PLL / FLL / DLL design - Doppler estimation and tracking - Carrier recovery and timing recovery - Matched filtering and correlation-based detection - Frame synchronization and preamble detection - OFDM, TDMA, DVB-S2/DVB-S2X, or other modem PHY experience - GNSS observables such as pseudorange, carrier phase, Doppler, clocks, and ephemerides - Navigation filtering, EKFs, factor graphs, or INS/GNSS integration - Python, C/C++, MATLAB, or similar signal-processing tools IDEAL CANDIDATE The strongest candidate combines practical SDR implementation experience with deep receiver signal-processing intuition. They should be comfortable working with imperfect real-world RF data, debugging acquisition/tracking behavior, and turning signal-processing algorithms into working receiver software. Experience with GNSS, LEO satellite signals, satcom downlinks, radar, EW, SIGINT, or wireless PHY systems is especially relevant.

Requirements

Must-haves

Design and implement SDR receiver algorithms for real-world RF signals.
Develop acquisition, tracking, synchronization, and measurement-generation pipelines.
Estimate Doppler, carrier phase, timing, delay, and signal quality metrics.
Work with SDR platforms such as USRP/UHD, GNU Radio, RFSoC, or FPGA-based systems.
Analyze collected RF data and debug receiver performance in lab and field environments.
Evaluate waveform structure, modulation, channel behavior, and receiver implementation tradeoffs.
Support navigation and communications experiments using GNSS, LEO satellite downlinks, or other opportunistic signals.
Strong candidates may come from one or more of the following areas:
GNSS / PNT receiver design
Satellite communications modem or PHY development
Radar signal processing
Electronic warfare, ELINT, SIGINT, or spectrum monitoring
Wireless PHY / LTE / 5G baseband processing
Real-time SDR or FPGA-based signal processing
SDR development with GNU Radio, USRP/UHD, RFSoC, or FPGA SDR platforms
Real-time DSP implementation
Signal acquisition and tracking loops
PLL / FLL / DLL design
Doppler estimation and tracking
Carrier recovery and timing recovery
Matched filtering and correlation-based detection
Frame synchronization and preamble detection
OFDM, TDMA, DVB-S2/DVB-S2X, or other modem PHY experience
GNSS observables such as pseudorange, carrier phase, Doppler, clocks, and ephemerides

Nice-to-haves

None flagged.

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

python

Platform: ashby
Effort: quick