DescriptionWe are seeking a
Senior Electronics or Computer Hardware Engineer specializing in Autonomous Systems to directly support the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). This is a full-time, on-site position located at
Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB) in Albuquerque, NM.
In this role, you will serve as the principal technical authority responsible for designing, modifying, and evaluating autonomous hardware systems, unmanned aerial/ground vehicles (UxS), and robotic edge-computing nodes deployed into GPS-denied, communication-constrained, and hazardous environments. Your expertise will bridge the gap between autonomous physical hardware, edge-processing, and multi-domain sensing architectures-ensuring these systems can navigate, map, and assess complex
Underground Facilities (UGFs) and hardened deeply buried targets (HDBTs).
Key Responsibilities- Autonomous Hardware Design: Lead the electrical architecture design, component selection, and ruggedization of embedded computing platforms, sensors, and power distribution systems for autonomous systems deployed in subterranean environments.
- Subterranean Sensing & Payload Integration: Design and integrate specialized sensor payloads (e.g., radiation detectors, gas sensors, LiDAR, multi-spectral cameras) onto autonomous platforms to map internal UGF geometries and detect threat signatures.
- M&S and Hazard Tool Interface: Ensure physical sensor hardware outputs and autonomous telemetry streams are formatted to feed directly into DoD predictive toolsets, providing real-time bounding and source-term data for HPAC and VLSTRACK environmental dispersion models.
- Embedded Edge-Computing: Optimize edge-processing architectures (FPGA, GPU, microcontrollers) to handle simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), autonomous navigation algorithms, and localized data fusion without relying on external communication loops.
- Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Testing: Develop and execute rigorous HIL testing frameworks to validate autonomous hardware performance against simulated underground environments, electromagnetic interference (EMI), and extreme physical degradation.
- Field Test Integration: Collaborate with Kirtland-based Test & Evaluation (T&E) teams to physically field-test robotic and autonomous hardware configurations in specialized underground test beds and regional ranges.
- Technical Leadership: Mentor junior to mid-level electronics engineers, hardware designers, and roboticists at Kirtland AFB, establishing rigorous engineering, testing, and hardware safety baselines.
- Interagency Collaboration: Present complex hardware architectures, autonomous systems capabilities, and vulnerability testing results to executive DTRA leadership, combatant commands (COCOMs), and international defense partners.
Required Qualifications- Education: Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics Engineering, or a highly relevant STEM discipline; Master's degree or Doctorate (Ph.D.) preferred.
- Experience: Minimum of 10+ years of progressive engineering experience, with a heavy emphasis on embedded electronics design, computer hardware architectures, and autonomous/robotic systems within the Department of Defense (DoD) or intelligence community space.
- Specialized Domain Expertise: Comprehensive expertise in circuit design (PCB layout, signal integrity), embedded architectures (ARM, FPGAs, microcontrollers), and autonomous system platforms (UAV, UGV, UxS) optimized for complex or Underground Facilities (UGFs).
- Predictive Tool Familiarity: Strong working knowledge of how hardware sensor arrays and autonomous data acquisition pipelines interface with and constrain DoD hazard prediction toolsets, specifically Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability (HPAC) and Vapor, Liquid, and Solid Tracking (VLSTRACK).
- Security Clearance: An active U.S. Government Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) security clearance
- Technical Stack: Advanced proficiency with electrical CAD tools (e.g., Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro), hardware description languages (VHDL/Verilog), and low-level programming (C/C++, Python) for embedded systems and ROS (Robot Operating System).
Preferred Experience- GPS-Denied Navigation: Hands-on experience developing or testing hardware architectures that utilize visual-inertial odometry, ultra-wideband (UWB) tracking, or non-traditional navigation in GPS-denied environments.
- Radiation Hardening & Ruggedization: Familiarity with MIL-STD-810 (environmental engineering) and MIL-STD-461 (electromagnetic compatibility) testing standards for electronics operating in extreme environments.
