Radar Phenomenology Engineer

SAIC is seeking a Radar Phenomenology Engineer to join the National Security and Space Sector (NSS). You would work on a joint Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) crown jewel program providing highly specialized space/counter-space engineering, scientific, and analytical services from Aurora, Colorado. We support the Nation’s leading-edge IC and DoD space programs and offer compelling, deep-technical work that has direct influence and impact on program development and operations. Our team has Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) across a variety of disciplines, including physics, math, RF, optics, space acquisition and operations, and intelligence collection and analysis.

This Radar Phenomenology Engineer will work in a collaborative team-focused environment of U.S. Government civilians and contractors solving applied technical problems and developing usable solutions for multiple space-related capabilities and threats. The ideal candidate will:

• Have the ability to conceptualize, synthesize, analyze, and assess the performance of ground and space-based radar systems, radar phenomenology, target signatures, and radar signal processing techniques
• Be motivated by problem solving and development of the range of solutions, over system development
• Have experience with IC and/or DoD space system development, acquisition, or operations
• Understand the technical and operational concepts of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems and inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR)
• Familiarity with evaluating and using vendor-provided modeling products from tools such as HFSS, CST, and X-Patch

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Conducting specialized technical studies related to radar systems, targets, and data products to provide assessments and actionable solutions for program managers or satellite owner/operators
• Leading and participating in complex physics-based modeling, simulation and analysis, and conducting technical trades
• Developing and maintaining in-depth knowledge of U.S. national security space, foreign space, counter-space threats, and space surveillance and identification
• Participating in and representing the customer in various Government and contractor meetings and attending contractor programmatic and technical reviews (e.g. PMR, PDR, CDR, etc.) to provide technical recommendations and risk assessments
• Frequently interacting with program managers, SETAs, FFRDCs and external stakeholders
• Developing productive relationships with the Program Office, Prime, and Subcontract counterparts, functional IC or DoD counterparts, and other SMEs
• Repeated use and application of technical standards, principles, theories, concepts and techniques

Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in physics or engineering and 9 or more years (7 or more with a Masters) of direct experience with analysis and interpretation of radar systems and data

• Proven experience in analytic problem-solving relating to the exploitation of radar data of space-objects, including familiarity with radar data products, signal processing techniques, and scattering phenomenology
• Understanding of fundamentals of astrodynamics and space systems
• Fluent in specialized software tools or programming languages relevant for space systems, such as Systems Tool Kit, MATLAB, Python, C++, or similar
• Demonstrated record of effective individual and group work behaviors, with abilities to proactively initiate and operate in dynamic and incompletely defined environments
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with experience conveying technical concepts, results, and summaries to internal customers, external customers, and stakeholders of diverse technical backgrounds
• Must have TS/SCI would prefer poly