Senior EWIS Engineer

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Maneuver Dominance team is building Thunder - an autonomous attack rotorcraft built to fight alongside crewed combat aviation to deliver overwhelming mass effects deep beyond the front lines. The team in London builds the Mission System and the autonomy that makes aircraft like Thunder work.

Autonomy is only as good as the link that carries it. Thunder is a compact airframe with weapons, sensors and radios competing for the same antenna real estate, flying low and in formation, in a spectrum that is actively contested. That is the problem you would own.

ABOUT THE JOB

We are looking for an RF Systems Engineer to own the communications architecture for the Thunder Mission System. You will set the RF architecture and then go and prove it: developing link budgets and co-site analysis, running modelling and simulation, selecting and managing radio, antenna, and cabling vendor base, integrating hardware onto the platform, and troubleshooting it on the bench and in the field. You will be the authoritative voice for communications in vehicle-level trade studies, which means making calls that other disciplines will build around and being able to defend them.

We are looking for someone with low-ego and high-ownership, mission focused, meticulous about detail and as comfortable arguing a position as revising it when the measurements disagree. If you enjoy being the person a cross-functional team turns to when the RF problem is genuinely hard, this is that job.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Architect, design, integrate, test, and optimise communications hardware across the Thunder Mission System and its subsystems.
• Develop RF link budgets, co-site analysis, and desense reports, and translate them into design decisions the wider team can act on.
• Configure, simulate, evaluate, and test RF systems and datalinks, in the lab and in the field.
• Create and maintain RF system interconnect diagrams and supporting design documentation.
• Select and manage radio, RF component, cable, and antenna vendors.
• Represent the communications subsystem in vehicle-level, cross-disciplinary trade studies that define and optimise our platforms.
• Support other engineering teams' development efforts by bringing an understanding of communications system impacts and trades to their design decisions.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 7+ years of hands-on industry experience in RF systems design, build, test, and troubleshooting.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Depth in RF link budgets, co-site analysis, and desense, and a working understanding of EMI and the system-level integration issues that come with dense platforms.
• Fluency with RF test equipment: spectrum analysers, network analysers, power meters, signal and function generators, and the judgement to know when a measurement is telling you something real.
• Experience with RF system modelling and simulation.
• Experience with the electrical integration of avionics modules and payloads into UAVs, ground vehicles, C2 systems, or weapons systems.
• Working knowledge of aviation communications systems (radios, antennas, and similar) and tactical communications systems, plus the fundamentals of Ethernet and IP networking.
• Python for test automation and data analysis, and a habit of automating any measurement you take more than twice.
• The ability to work across disciplines: defining product requirements, running trade analyses, developing specifications, and conducting system-level tests with people who are not RF engineers.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active UKSV Security Clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Familiarity with Ofcom and/or FCC spectrum authorisations.
• Familiarity with MIL-STD-461 and MIL-STD-464; DO-160 or MIL-STD-810 environmental qualification.
• Experience with MANET and mesh waveforms (for example Silvus or DTC).
• Experience designing or testing for GPS-denied and EW-contested environments.
• Anechoic chamber and antenna pattern measurement experience.