Senior Radar Research Engineer

Sub Department: Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI)

Michigan Technological University is an R1 technological research university founded in 1885 in Houghton. Our rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's scenic Upper Peninsula and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Research focus areas include defense, health, energy, automotive, environment, and aerospace.

The area’s waters, forests, and snowfall support year-round recreation, including skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, and paddling. The University is an integral part of the region, supported by a friendly and welcoming community that takes pride in being a true college town. We embrace our size, climate, sense of adventure, and originality.

Summary

At Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI), we develop advanced technologies that help our nation better understand, sense, and operate within complex natural and human-made environments. Our work spans multidisciplinary research and applied development, advancing ideas from foundational concepts to mission-relevant prototypes. We are seeking a Senior Radar Research Engineer to provide technical leadership in the development of advanced radar sensing technologies supporting national security missions. This role focuses on shaping and leading radar-focused research programs spanning radar signal processing, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and radio frequency (RF) sensing, while advancing technologies from concept through prototype demonstration. The successful candidate will serve as the Institute’s technical authority in radar/RF sensing, guiding strategy, architecture, and technical execution while leading multiple research programs and growing MTRI’s radar sensing portfolio through strong sponsor engagement.

Responsibilities and Essential Duties

1. Develop, grow, and sustain a portfolio of radar/RF research programs supporting multiple staff and initiatives.
2. Identify, capture, and secure new research funding through opportunity development, sponsor engagement, and competitive proposal execution.
3. Define and maintain a multi-year radar research and growth roadmap aligned with sponsor priorities (DoD, AFRL, DARPA, etc.).
4. Lead and coordinate technical execution across multiple concurrent research programs.
5. Serve as Principal Investigator on multiple funded efforts and ensure successful delivery of technical objectives.
6. Serve as the technical authority in radar/RF sensing, guiding architecture, algorithm development, and system design decisions.
7. Lead development and evaluation of advanced radar signal processing algorithms.
8. Architect radar signal processing chains for detection, tracking, imaging, and RF sensing applications.
9. Oversee advancement of radar/RF technologies from concept through prototype validation (Technology Readiness Levels 1–6).
10. Establish and enforce rigorous standards for experimental design, validation, and performance evaluation.
11. Lead and author technical volumes for white papers, BAAs, SBIR/STTR submissions, and other competitive proposals.
12. Build and maintain sponsor relationships and develop teaming strategies to support program execution and transition.
13. Support and influence institutional planning and growth of radar/RF sensing capabilities
14. Mentor technical staff and support cross-disciplinary integration across sensing, analytics, and systems teams.
15. Evaluate and guide adoption of emerging tools, frameworks, and technologies to maintain technical advantage in radar/RF sensing.
16. Commit to learning about continuous improvement strategies and applying them to everyday work. Actively engage in University continuous improvement initiatives.
17. Apply safety-related knowledge, skills, and practices to everyday work.

Required Education, Certifications, Licensures

• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or closely related technical field

Required Experience

1. 12–18 years of experience in applied research and development environments
2. Demonstrated experience serving as Principal Investigator on multiple funded research programs
3. Proven track record of leading and winning competitive government research proposals
4. Demonstrated technical authority in radar/RF sensing and research.
5. Experience mentoring or supervising technical staff.
6. Experience advancing technologies across TRLs, particularly from TRLs 2–3 through TRLs 5–6
7. Experience with at least one of the following: SAR processing or advanced radar imaging techniques, electronic warfare or RF sensing systems, designing or evaluating prototype radar systems, or integrating radar algorithms with hardware systems.

Desirable Education and/or Experience

1. Experience with at least two or more of the following: SAR processing or advanced radar imaging techniques, electronic warfare or RF sensing systems, designing or evaluating prototype radar systems, or integrating radar algorithms with hardware systems.
2. Experience leading large research proposals and program capture.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities

1. Ability to obtain a U.S. Department of Defense security clearance, which requires United States citizenship. Obtaining a national security clearance while holding a dual citizenship will not be possible when the foreign country poses a risk to the national security of the United States.
2. Deep expertise in radar signal processing, SAR, or radar sensing systems.
3. Strong programming proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or C++
4. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including experience briefing sponsors and senior leadership

Desirable Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities

1. Familiarity with systems engineering or MBSE approaches.
2. Active government security clearance at Secret level or higher.
3. Demonstrated success in, or potential future contributions to, working with persons with a wide variety of backgrounds and viewpoints.