ViaSat

Hardware Engineering Lead - Communication & Sensing Systems

ViaSat$198K — $314K *
Aerospace & Defense
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering or related field
  • 15+ years in hardware engineering or technical leadership of complex systems
  • Experience transitioning new hardware designs to production
  • Demonstrable leadership of multidisciplinary engineering teams
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills
  • Active DoD Top Secret Clearance with SCI eligibility
  • Ability to travel up to 10%

Responsibilities

  • Lead a multidisciplinary team of engineers in hardware development
  • Oversee the hardware development lifecycle from requirements to production
  • Conduct 'make/buy' evaluations and architectural decisions
  • Act as the technical lead for customer proposals and documentation
  • Manage HW/PL/SW interface definitions and verification strategies
  • Deliver technical briefings and lead major build reviews
  • Ensure compliance through rigorous review of subcontractor work
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to manage hardware production transitions

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health and wellness programs
  • Options for additional cash or stock incentives
  • Support for professional growth and development
  • Opportunity to work in a collaborative and innovative environment
  • Engagement in cutting-edge space and communication technologies
Full Job Description
What you'll do

As a Hardware Engineering Product Team (IPT) Lead coordinating efforts within the Viasat Government Space and New Technologies group, you will lead engineers across specialties. You will oversee the hardware development lifecycle, starting with requirements definition and continuing through production, fielding, and sustainment of a sophisticated communication and sensing system.

The day-to-day

As a working leader, you will guide a multidisciplinary team of Digital Hardware, Programmable Logic (PL), Radio Frequency (RF), and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Engineers while also contributing directly to the technical execution of the program. You will support related central initiatives as well.
You will:
• Lead efforts in circuitry, reconfigurable logic devices, and development of software coordinated within hardware involving internal groups and external subcontractors.
• Lead "make/buy" evaluations and system-level architectural decisions, including DSP strategy, FPGA partitioning, and HW/SW interface definitions.
• Serve as the technical hardware lead for customer engagements, proposal development, and the generation of Basis of Estimates (BOEs).
• Act as the primary technical focal point for subcontracted hardware, providing rigorous review and challenge of builds, analyses, and work to ensure compliance.
• Define and manage complex HW/PL/SW interfaces and verification strategies to ensure robust system integration and performance.
• Deliver high-quality technical briefings and lead successful execution of major build reviews (PDR, CDR) and internal achievement reviews.
• Establish and enforce alignment with sound engineering processes, build standards, and configuration management (CM) controls.
• Partner with program leadership to drive schedule accuracy and resource planning activities.
• Coordinate with Supply Chain and New Product Introduction (NPI) teams to manage hardware builds and production transitions.
• Collaborate with Test Leads to define comprehensive test requirements and identify Special Test Equipment (STE) needs.

What you'll need
• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience in Electrical Engineering or an associated technical domain
• 15+ years of experience in hardware engineering or technical leadership for complex communications, RF, space, or sensing systems
• A track history of successfully transitioning new hardware designs to production.
• Demonstrated experience leading multi field engineering teams across hardware, firmware, DSP, and embedded software
• Proven communication skills (both verbal and written) with experience delivering technical briefs and guiding design reviews
• US Government position. US Citizenship required
Active DoD Top Secret Clearance (with SCI eligibility)
• Ability to travel up to 10%

This role is onsite in Carlsbad, CA

#LI-BBS


What will help you on the job
• Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering or a related technical area, with equivalent experience accepted
• Active DoD TS/SCI Clearance with SAP
• Experience collaborating effectively with distributed teams across time zones, functions, cultures, and fields
• Proven experience with integration of hardware, firmware, and software on platforms such as FPGAs, processors, or embedded architectures
• Experience integrating subcontracted hardware into larger system architectures
• Strong ability in solving, debugging, and root cause analysis across HW/SW boundaries
• Familiarity with RF systems, waveform design principles, calibration strategies, or sensing system performance metrics
• Demonstrating dedicated customer focus, a passion for excellence, and a one-team approach

Salary range

$198,500.00 - $314,000.00 / annually.For specific work locations within San Jose, the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, the base pay range for this role is $247,000.00- $370,000.00/ annually

At Viasat, we consider many factors when it comes to compensation, including the scope of the position as well as your background and experience. Base pay may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Additional cash or stock incentives may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position offered. Learn more about Viasat's comprehensive benefit offerings that are focused on your holistic health and wellness at https://careers.viasat.com/benefits.

About ViaSat

ViaSat is a global communications company that provides satellite and wireless networking technology, services, and solutions. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California. ViaSat offers a range of products and services, including satellite broadband internet, in-flight Wi-Fi, and secure networking systems for government and military customers. The company has more than 6,200 employees and operates in over 50 countries. ViaSat is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol VSAT.
Learn more about ViaSat
Size
7,000 employees
Market Cap
$2.2 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$2 million
Founded
1986
5 Year Trend
+12.3%
Revenue
$2.2 billion
NASDAQ

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at ViaSat

More Aerospace & Defense Jobs

Find similar Hardware Engineering Lead - Communication & Sensing Systems jobs: