Principal Technical Director, AI-Enabled Spectrum Dominance

Voyager is an innovative defense, national security and space technology company committed to advancing and delivering transformative, mission-critical solutions. We tackle the most complex challenges to unlock new frontiers for human progress, fortify national security, and protect critical assets to lead in the race for technological and operational superiority from ground to space.

Job Summary

Principal Technical Director, AI-Enabled Spectrum Dominance – senior technical leader for our advanced RF systems, software, algorithms, and agentic AI portfolio as applied to space-based and terrestrial electromagnetic warfare and sensing. Drive the technical vision for spectrum dominance while leading the application of Voyager’s Agentic Computational Engineering (ACE) platform to RF hardware systems and digital signal processing (DSP) development.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & Vision
  • Define and drive the technical roadmap for Voyager’s Spectrum Dominance portfolio, serving as the ultimate technical authority for RF, EW, radar, and sensing programs—specific emphasis on space-based active and passive RF systems.
  • Set strategic direction for applying Agentic Computational Engineering to RF hardware design, DSP algorithm development, and end-to-end RF system integration.
  • Own the vision for how AI agents are used across the RF hardware design lifecycle, from generative antenna and front-end design to automated DSP algorithm synthesis and simulation-in-the-loop optimization.
• Agentic Computational Engineering for RF & DSP
  • Lead deployment of Voyager’s ACE platform for RF-specific applications, ensuring AI agents can design, simulate, evaluate, and optimize RF hardware and DSP subsystems.
  • Direct development of domain-specific AI agents for electromagnetic simulation, transceiver architecture exploration, waveform design, interference analysis, and signal chain optimization.
  • Partner with the ACE platform team to define requirements for agent orchestration, physics simulation integration (EM solvers, thermal analysis, signal integrity), and design-for-manufacturing constraints specific to space-qualified RF hardware.
  • Establish automated simulation loops between RF/DSP design agents and high-fidelity physics solvers, including meshing, solving, and post-processing for antenna patterns, RCS analysis, link budgets, and spectral performance.
  • Drive adoption of AI-first workflows across the RF engineering organization, championing use of LLM-based tools and agents to accelerate documentation, design review, test planning, and compliance verification.
• R&D Execution
  • Lead execution of complex, high-stakes research and development programs for next-generation space-based and terrestrial RF systems, ensuring technical risks are managed and innovative solutions are delivered on schedule.
  • Oversee design, analysis, and testing of advanced RF systems including satellite communications payloads, space-based SIGINT/ELINT collectors, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and passive RF sensing architectures.
• End-to-End System Architecture
  • Architect complete RF systems bridging DSP algorithms, software-defined radio (SDR) hardware, FPGA/SoC platforms, and high-level mission software, ensuring seamless integration across the entire signal chain for both space and ground segments.
  • Define system architectures for space-based RF payloads that account for unique constraints of the orbital environment: radiation tolerance, thermal management, power budgets, size/weight limitations, and long-duration mission reliability.
• Productization & Commercialization
  • Bridge the “valley of death” by guiding technologies from TRL 3–6 research efforts into robust, productized solutions ready for manufacturing and deployment. Work closely with product and business teams to define commercialization strategies.
  • Leverage agentic AI capabilities to accelerate productization timelines, using the Generative Engine to rapidly iterate on design variants and manufacturing-ready configurations.
• Team Building & Mentorship
  • Build and inspire a world-class engineering team spanning RF hardware, DSP, and AI-enabled design disciplines. Mentor senior engineers and researchers, fostering a culture of technical rigor, creativity, and rapid iteration.
  • Grow and lead a multidisciplinary team of RF engineers, DSP developers, and AI/ML engineers working collaboratively on agentic RF design capabilities.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Partner with business development and capture teams to shape new opportunities, providing technical grounding to win major government contracts.
  • Collaborate with the ACE platform team, propulsion, electronics, and manufacturing domain teams to ensure RF-specific agentic capabilities integrate seamlessly with Voyager’s broader Generative Engine ecosystem.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field.
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a US Government clearance (requires US citizenship).
• Space-Based RF Systems Expertise – demonstrated background in design, development, and deployment of space-based active RF systems (such as satellite communications transponders, SAR payloads, space-based radar, or active phased arrays for orbital platforms) and/or passive RF systems (such as space-based SIGINT/ELINT collectors, radiometers, or passive sensing payloads). Direct experience with unique constraints of the space environment (radiation hardening, thermal management, power budgeting, long‑duration reliability).
• Deep RF & Systems Expertise – proven background in designing and developing complete end-to-end RF systems (both RF front-ends and digital subsystems). Deep understanding of physics of the spectrum and hardware required to dominate it across communications, EW, radar, and sensing domains.
• SDR Proficiency – extensive experience designing and developing complex software-defined radio (SDR) systems, including familiarity with modern transceiver architectures and FPGA/SoC platforms.
• Algorithm Development – strong track record in designing and developing complex DSP and RF Machine Learning (RFML) algorithms. Understands how to apply modern compute—including AI/ML techniques—to solve traditional RF problems.
• R&D Leadership – demonstrated experience leading multi-disciplinary engineering teams (Hardware, Software, RF, FPGA, AI/ML) through full lifecycle of advanced R&D programs, from white paper to prototype to deployment.
• Domain Expertise – demonstrated background fielding capability in one or more relevant spectrum dominance domains: SIGINT, EW, or Radar, with preference for space-based applications.
• Programmatic Execution – familiarity with challenges of government R&D contracting, including experience delivering against technical milestones for customers like DARPA, ONR, AFRL, NRO, or the Space Force.
• Proposal Development – proven proposal development experience, including contributing to technical volumes and cost estimations for complex government solicitations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field.
• Active U.S. Top Secret / SCI Security Clearance.
• Direct experience with space-based RF payload programs (design, integration, test, and on‑orbit operations) for DoD or Intelligence Community customers.
• Experience with or strong interest in AI-driven engineering workflows, including agentic AI systems, LLM-based design tools, automated simulation frameworks, or generative design platforms.
• Familiarity with agent orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangGraph, AutoGen, or custom agent runtimes) and understanding of how multi-agent systems can be applied to hardware design problems.
• Experience with electromagnetic simulation tools (HFSS, CST, FEKO, or equivalent) and vision for how AI agents can automate and accelerate simulation-driven RF design.
• Experience productizing advanced R&D into monetizable commercial motions, demonstrating track record of turning science projects into shipping products.
• Demonstrated history of leading winning proposals for space-based RF programs.
• Background in orbit-specific RF considerations: Doppler compensation, atmospheric propagation effects, space-to-ground link budgets, anti-jam architectures, and low-probability-of-intercept (LPI) waveforms.
• Willingness to travel up to 25% to customer sites, test ranges, and Voyager locations.

Pay range (California): $225,000—$300,000 USD

Pay range (Washington DC): $225,000—$300,000 USD

Voyager offers a comprehensive total compensation package, which includes competitive salary, discretionary annual bonus, PTO, health benefits, retirement savings, wellness program, and additional benefits.

Voyager is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

The statements contained in this job description are intended to describe the general content and requirements for performance of this job. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties, responsibilities, and requirements. This job description is not an employment agreement or contract.