Senior RF Geolocation & Direction Finding Engineer - Build Indoor RF Localization from the Ground Up

Tampa, FL | On-site

Opportunity Summary

Join an early-stage defense technology company building advanced RF sensing and wireless systems for demanding operational environments. The team develops its own RF hardware, firmware, embedded systems, and software, and is now adding a new localization capability that must determine where wireless emitters are operating inside complex indoor environments.

You will own that capability from architecture through field validation. The technical challenge is difficult by design: concrete and steel, severe multipath, limited node density, intermittent transmitters, and multiple wireless protocols operating at once. You will determine the right combination of angle-of-arrival, time-difference-of-arrival, and sensor fusion, then prove the approach using real hardware in real buildings.

About Us

We are a venture-backed defense technology startup founded by former military operators who experienced firsthand the limitations of existing electronic warfare and sensing systems. The engineering team builds custom RF electronics and signal-processing systems internally rather than relying only on packaged solutions. This is the company's first product where emitter localization is a primary capability, giving the engineer joining this role significant influence over both the technical architecture and the hardware requirements that support it.

Job Duties

• Own the RF localization and direction-finding architecture for a distributed sensing system
• Evaluate and select between angle-of-arrival, time-difference-of-arrival, hybrid localization, and other estimation approaches
• Trade localization accuracy against node count, antenna complexity, compute requirements, system cost, and deployment constraints
• Develop AoA algorithms using phase-coherent, multichannel RF data
• Build TDOA and cross-node localization methods using precisely timestamped detections
• Develop sensor-fusion approaches that combine measurements from multiple nodes and localization techniques
• Create timing, synchronization, and calibration error budgets and translate them into system and hardware requirements
• Define channel-to-channel phase and amplitude calibration requirements for antenna arrays and coherent receiver paths
• Work closely with RF engineers to define antenna configuration, array geometry, channel count, and receiver requirements
• Partner with FPGA and DSP engineers to determine which signal-processing functions belong in FPGA fabric versus host or edge compute
• Develop algorithms for multipath mitigation in dense indoor environments
• Build tracking algorithms for moving, intermittent, and burst-mode emitters
• Develop confidence metrics and uncertainty estimates around calculated device positions
• Create simulation and playback environments using captured RF data before validating algorithms on live systems
• Design and execute field tests in representative indoor facilities
• Quantify localization accuracy, repeatability, coverage, and failure modes rather than relying only on simulation results
• Analyze poor-performing scenarios and feed findings back into RF, timing, antenna, and system architecture
• Support emitter detection and classification across cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GNSS, and other wireless technologies
• Help establish the company's long-term technical foundation for RF geolocation and direction finding

Qualifications

• MS in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Signal Processing, or a related technical field, or a BS with equivalent hands-on experience
• 5+ years of experience in RF geolocation, direction finding, wireless localization, radar, or closely related signal-processing work
• Demonstrated experience implementing AoA, TDOA, or comparable localization techniques on real RF hardware
• Experience validating localization performance through field measurements rather than simulation alone
• Strong understanding of array signal processing and estimation theory
• Practical knowledge of phase-coherent receiver architectures and multichannel calibration
• Experience developing timing, synchronization, and measurement error budgets
• Strong foundation in statistical estimation and target or emitter tracking
• Hands-on experience addressing multipath, reflections, and non-line-of-sight propagation in indoor or urban environments
• Proficiency with Python and C++
• Experience using MATLAB or similar tools for algorithm development and prototyping
• Ability to transition research or prototype algorithms into production-oriented implementations
• Comfortable working directly with RF hardware, captured IQ data, antenna arrays, and laboratory test equipment
• Ability to troubleshoot problems across algorithms, RF hardware, synchronization, calibration, and field conditions

Preferred Experience

• Background in SIGINT, electronic warfare, direction finding, spectrum monitoring, or RF intelligence systems
• Experience with UWB, RTLS, cellular localization, indoor positioning, or distributed sensor networks
• Working knowledge of LTE, 2G, 3G, or 5G air interfaces
• Familiarity with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signal structures
• Experience with precision timing technologies such as PTP, White Rabbit, GPS-disciplined oscillators, or equivalent synchronization systems
• Strong understanding of how timing uncertainty translates into TDOA localization error
• Experience with antenna arrays, beamforming, MUSIC, ESPRIT, or related direction-finding algorithms
• Familiarity with Kalman filtering, particle filtering, Bayesian estimation, or other tracking approaches
• Experience with RF emitter classification or machine-learning-based signal identification
• Experience developing distributed localization systems that operate without constant communication between sensing nodes
• Background in defense, public safety, telecommunications, wireless infrastructure, test and measurement, or other RF-intensive industries

Why Join Us

• Build a major technical capability the company does not already have
• Own the localization architecture instead of inheriting a mature design
• Work with phase-coherent RF hardware, FPGA signal processing, antennas, timing systems, and real-world field data
• Influence hardware decisions directly through timing, calibration, and localization requirements
• Solve difficult indoor RF problems where multipath and limited node density make textbook approaches insufficient
• Validate algorithms in real environments rather than stopping at simulation
• Join a small technical team where individual engineers have significant influence over product architecture
• Help take a new sensing platform from advanced prototype through customer validation and production
• Join at an early stage with significant opportunity for technical ownership and long-term growth

Compensation Details

$120,000 - $150,000