SkySafe · 8 hours ago
RF and Compute Hardware Lead Engineer
San Diego, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$175K/yr - $225K/yr
8+ years expSkySafe is the leader in drone detection and airspace intelligence, delivering unmatched visibility into drone activity. The RF and Compute Hardware Lead Engineer will define and drive the technical direction of detection hardware, leading the design and evaluation of future detection systems while collaborating with software and operations teams.
AerospaceDrone ManagementDronesNational SecurityRoboticsSecurity
No H1B
U.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
Lead the design of next-generation drone detection hardware systems
Evaluate and define compute architecture for future platforms, including: CPU selection and scaling, GPU acceleration for signal processing or ML workloads, FPGA utilization on SDR platforms
Determine system-level requirements for: RAM capacity and bandwidth, Storage and data throughput, Thermal and power constraints
Drive architectural trade studies balancing performance, cost, power, and deployability
Lead RF system design and integration for SDR-based detection platforms
Evaluate RF front-end architectures, bandwidth, sampling rates, and signal chains
Define requirements and interfaces for FPGA-based signal processing
Partner with software teams to align hardware capabilities with DSP, ML, and detection pipelines
Work closely with: Internal Tools Lead Engineer on telemetry, diagnostics, and control interfaces, Software teams on DSP, detection algorithms, and system integration, Field operations teams to ensure designs are deployable and serviceable
Provide technical leadership and mentorship across Hardware and RF domains
Lead prototyping, testing, and validation of new hardware platforms
Define test methodologies for RF performance, system stability, and environmental resilience
Support field trials and iterate designs based on real-world data
Qualification
Required
8+ years of experience in electrical engineering, RF engineering, or related fields
Strong background in RF systems and SDR platforms
Experience designing systems using: CPUs, GPUs, and/or FPGAs
Experience designing systems using: High-speed data interfaces and memory systems
Deep understanding of signal processing pipelines and hardware constraints
Experience performing system-level architecture tradeoffs
Ability to translate detection requirements into hardware specifications
Strong communications skills and experience leading technical direction
Preferred
Experience with Ettus or similar SDR platforms
FPGA development experience (e.g., VHDL/Verilog, HLS)
Experience with GPU-accelerated signal processing or ML inference
Experience with real-time or near-real-time RF detection systems
Familiarity with embedded Linux platforms
Experience supporting deployed, fielded hardware systems
Benefits
Full health coverage
Unlimited PTO
Flexible work hours
Company
SkySafe
SkySafe allows governments, law enforcement, airports, cities, and more to manage their airspace with real-time drone data and analytics.
11-50 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$45MKey Investors
Kingfisher Investment AdvisorsAndreessen Horowitz
2021-12-17Series B· $30M
2017-07-20Series A· $11.5M
2016-04-20Seed· $3.5M
Leadership Team
Grant Jordan
CEO
Recent News
2025-10-15
Providence Business News
2025-06-27
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