Senior PHY Software Engineer – 2G/4G/5G
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 4, 2026. First seen by Alion on Sep 10, 2026. Parallel Wireless scores B on the Alion truth index.
Senior PHY Software Engineer - 2G/4G/5G
We are looking for a highly experienced Senior PHY Software Engineer with 10+ years of experience in cellular PHY software development, integration, debugging, and system troubleshooting across 2G, 4G, and 5G technologies.
The role will primarily focus on PHY development, debugging, issue resolution, and integration within our cellular products. As part of our ongoing effort to improve engineering productivity and RCA capabilities, the engineer will also contribute to our AI-assisted development and Root Cause Analysis initiative, helping build and fine-tune AI-based tools/agents for PHY log and crash analysis. The ideal candidate should be a strong PHY domain expert and problem solver, capable of going beyond linear debugging approaches and identifying root causes by correlating evidence across different sources and layers.
What you'll do:
- Design, develop, debug, integrate, and maintain PHY software for cellular communication systems.
- Work across 2G, 4G, and 5G, understanding PHY behavior, implementation, and interaction with the overall system.
- Analyze complex PHY issues using logs, traces, crash dumps, KPIs, configuration, and system behavior to identify root causes.
- Develop and optimize PHY software and algorithms to improve performance, reliability, and product quality.
- Work with existing codebases and repositories, understand implementation flows, and extend or modify them without destabilizing existing functionality.
- Collaborate with MAC, RLC, RRC, RF, DSP, HW, and system teams to resolve complex product and field issues.
What you should have:
10+ years of experience in wireless communication / PHY software development, integration, debugging, or system troubleshooting.
Strong hands-on experience with 4G/LTE and/or 5G NR PHY, with working knowledge of other cellular RATs such as 2G.
Good understanding of PHY architecture, algorithms, implementation, and interaction with other layers.
Strong experience in PHY log analysis, debugging, issue isolation, and root-cause analysis, including the ability to identify non-obvious failure mechanisms.
Ability to correlate logs, traces, configuration, KPIs, and system behavior rather than relying only on predefined or linear debugging procedures.
Strong C/C++ programming and debugging skills, with good Python/scripting skills for automation and analysis.
Good understanding of DSP, digital communication, PHY/RF concepts, and relevant 3GPP specifications.
AI & Automation - Good to Have:
Exposure to AI/LLM-based developer tools or coding assistants.
Interest in applying AI to software development, debugging, log analysis, and RCA.
Experience with automation, log-processing, or internal debugging/analysis tools.
Willingness to learn and adopt AI-assisted development and agent-based troubleshooting approaches.
AI experience is not mandatory. Strong PHY domain expertise, development experience, and troubleshooting ability are the primary requirements.
Nice to Have:
Experience across multiple RATs, particularly 2G, 4G, and 5G.
Experience with O-RAN / Open RAN or advanced 5G PHY features.
Experience with MATLAB or similar tools for PHY analysis, modeling, or simulation.
Experience with Linux, Git, ARM, SIMD/NEON/AVX, or optimized DSP implementations.
Experience with telecom debugging and analysis tools such as Wireshark, Kibana, or similar platforms.
Role Evolution:
The initial focus will be on understanding the existing PHY implementation, logs, failure patterns, and troubleshooting methodologies. Over time, the engineer will contribute to building and improving AI-assisted RCA capabilities and use these capabilities as part of regular PHY development, debugging, and bug-fixing activities.
The objective is to combine deep PHY expertise with AI-assisted engineering to improve debugging efficiency, RCA accuracy, and overall product quality.