Radar Systems Engineer - RF Integration and Test Engineer

• CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators
• border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly
• stay ahead of evolving threats.
• CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel
• Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle
• London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com .
• Role Overview:
• Own RF -centric integration, debug, characterization, and validation for radar hardware, subsystems, and test environments
• Serve as the Integration and Test team's lead RF engineer across lab, production, chamber
• field environments — ensuring RF chains and test setups produce trustworthy measurements and enable rapid root-cause isolation

Responsibilities

• Lead RF debug, characterization
• acceptance for radar hardware — transmit chains, receive chains, antennas, cables, adapters, switches, filters, LNAs, HPAs, SDRs
• frequency conversion stages — including qualifying new components for integration into radar systems
• Diagnose RF failures by selecting and executing the appropriate measurements — S-parameters, VSWR , noise figure, phase noise, IP3 / P1dB , gain/compression, group delay, harmonics/spurs, isolation
• time-domain — and reconcile component-level results against system-level performance such as detection range, sensitivity
• Choose the right instrument for the failure mode — VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, phase noise analyzers, power meters, oscilloscopes, noise figure analyzers, and supporting calibration standards.
• Isolate subtle RF issues such as insertion loss drift, intermittent behavior, phase instability, spurious content, compression effects, LO leakage, and timing/frequency drift
• Define, configure, and calibrate RF test setups so measurements are repeatable and representative of system operating conditions
• Determine whether an observed failure is caused by component defect, cable/connector/interface degradation, calibration error, fixture/setup limitation, environmental effect
• broader system interaction — and connect those measurement results back to radar-level performance impacts
• Partner with systems, hardware, software, firmware, and integration engineers to root-cause failures that span RF , digital, timing, and test-setup boundaries
• Create RF test procedures, acceptance criteria, troubleshooting guides, and characterization reports that technicians and engineers can execute repeatably
• Plan and execute phased array testing in our anechoic chamber, including EIRP , transmit and receive beam patterns, sidelobe levels, beam steering accuracy, element-level calibration
• array calibration verification across the operating band
• Stand up and improve RF portions of test racks, bench setups, and STE environments — including automated or semi-automated RF data collection, analysis, and reporting
• Work 5 days per week out of our office in Los Angeles (Hawthorne), California.
• Minimum Requirements:
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, or another related technical field, or equivalent hands-on RF test experience
• 5+ years of experience in RF test, RF integration, RF validation, radar systems, wireless systems, aerospace/defense systems, or a similar high-performance RF environment
• Strong hands-on experience using RF test equipment to debug hardware and characterize components and subsystems
• Strong understanding of RF fundamentals including scattering parameters, impedance matching, gain, noise figure, linearity, compression, isolation, phase stability, and frequency-domain behavior
• Experience designing and executing RF test plans and interpreting ambiguous measurement results
• Ability to connect component-level measurements to system-level behavior and performance degradation
• Strong documentation and communication skills, including the ability to explain RF issues clearly to cross-functional teams
• High attention to detail and disciplined lab/test practices
• Preferred Requirements:
• Experience with radar systems, phased array systems, EW systems, SATCOM systems, or other advanced RF /microwave platforms
• Hands-on experience with anechoic chamber testing of phased arrays or antennas, including EIRP measurement, near-field/far-field pattern measurement, beam steering verification, and array calibration techniques
• Experience diagnosing radar calibration failures or phase-sensitive RF performance issues
• Familiarity with phase noise measurement methods, equipment selection, and interpretation of results
• Experience characterizing high-power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, frequency converters, SDRs, antennas, cables, adapters, and passive RF networks
• Experience with RF /microwave frequencies where test setup quality, cable behavior, connector condition, and calibration technique materially affect results
• Experience creating custom RF test fixtures, calibration approaches, or troubleshooting methods for nonstandard hardware
• Familiarity with automation or analysis tools such as Python, MATLAB , LabVIEW, or instrument control frameworks
• Experience working in lab and field environments where environmental conditions, handling, and installation quality can affect RF performance
• Experience working closely with technicians to improve setup quality, measurement repeatability, and fault isolation speed
• Why CHAOS?
• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits : 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 250 employees and counting across 5 global offices
• The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity
• benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.
• Recruiting Agencies: CHAOS Industries does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach. Unsolicited submissions will not be reviewed or compensated.
• #LI-onsite