Radio Frequency Software Engineer Principal

Role Description

GITI is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to support Cyber Operations Research and Development as the technical lead for production software development on a passive RF emitter identification and network analysis from real-time sensor data streams. The candidate will own the architecture, implementation, and delivery of the production pipeline — a stream ingestion, rollup, and post-processing system that operates on NDF (Network Description File) data produced by TDMA network sensors in dense, contested RF environments. This is a hands-on technical leadership role: the Principal Engineer writes code, makes architecture decisions, and is accountable for pipeline performance and reliability in support of real-world cyber operations.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture and implementation of the production software pipeline, including stream ingestion, rollup, database write, and batch post-processing components.
• Lead a team of Senior Software Engineers in support of real-world cyber operations; assign work, conduct code reviews, enforce quality standards, and provide technical mentorship.
• Establish and maintain disciplined software engineering practices: versioning, CI/CD pipelines, unit and integration testing, and documentation standards.
• Design and evaluate database and storage architecture for the tactical system and research enclave environments.
• Collaborate with the program technical lead to translate research findings and batch optimization algorithms into production pipeline components.
• Evaluate and benchmark Python pipeline performance on tactical-box-spec hardware; identify bottlenecks and lead porting of mature components to Rust or C for edge deployment.
• Manage and coordinate the tactical system VM environment and stream simulation infrastructure; ensure research VM is not disrupted by development activity.
• Define and enforce stream interface contracts between the ingestion layer, database, and downstream consumers.
• Evaluate emerging technologies (e.g., DuckDB/Parquet, Polars, message queues) against program requirements and recommend adoption decisions to the technical lead.
• Maintain the program's GitLab repository structure, branching strategy, and release management.
• Produce clear technical documentation including architecture decision records, interface specifications, and deployment guides.
• Support technical reviews and provide written inputs for sponsor deliverables as directed by the program technical lead.

Qualifications

• Expert-level career professional with broad and deep application of software engineering principles across the full development lifecycle.
• Exercises independent judgment in evaluating methods, techniques, and approaches; identifies and resolves complex technical problems with significant program impact.
• Provides technical leadership and direction to other engineers.
• Bachelor's (or equivalent) with 10+ years of experience.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience leading a software engineering team on a production data pipeline or streaming system; ability to set technical direction and mentor junior engineers.
• Expert-level Python development, including stream processing, multi-threaded/async architectures, and performance profiling.
• Proficiency in one or more compiled or systems languages (Rust, C, C++, or Go) for performance-critical components; experience porting Python to compiled targets.
• Hands-on experience designing and implementing relational database schemas and write-intensive data pipelines (MySQL, PostgreSQL, or equivalent).
• Experience parsing binary serialization formats such as FlatBuffers or Protocol Buffers in a production context.
• Demonstrated ability to benchmark and optimize pipeline throughput on resource-constrained hardware or cloud environment.
• Strong proficiency with Linux system administration, remote server management via SSH, and air-gapped development environments.
• Experience architecting multi-consumer data systems where a single write path must serve concurrent display, analytics, and batch processing readers.
• Proficient in disciplined software engineering practices: GitLab/Git, CI/CD pipeline design, test-driven development, and code review.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; ability to produce architecture decision records and technical documentation for both engineering and leadership audiences.

Desired Skills

• Experience with TNS (Target Network System) sensor data formats and NDF ICD specifications.
• Familiarity with TDMA network protocols, time-division access architectures, and passive RF signal processing concepts.
• Experience deploying and operating software on tactical edge hardware co-located with a sensor system.
• Experience with lightweight stream or message queue architectures (ZeroMQ, RabbitMQ, or equivalent).
• Experience with Polars or DuckDB for high-performance analytical workloads and write-once/read-many storage patterns.
• Experience with LLM-assisted software development tools (e.g., Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, JetBrains AI Assistant, or equivalent); demonstrated ability to use AI tools productively for code generation, refactoring, and test case development while maintaining engineering judgment and code quality standards.
• Familiarity with AI/ML model inference integration — ability to incorporate batch optimizer outputs into the production pipeline without requiring ML expertise.
• Experience with browser-based data visualization or reporting tools (React, D3, or equivalent) as a consumer of pipeline output.
• Experience with Jupyter Notebooks and research enclave environments; ability to bridge from research prototype to production code.
• Experience with FlatBuffers binary stream replay and simulation infrastructure for pipeline testing.
• Familiarity with Rust toolchain and ecosystem for systems-level development on Linux.

Relevant Certifications

• Certifications in software engineering, computer science, or related fields (e.g., Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP); Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP); Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE); C++ Certified Professional Programmer (CPP); Professional Software Developer Certification (PSD); etc.).