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Salary: USD 230,000 - 305,000 / annual
Voyager Technologies is seeking a Principal Scientist, Radar and Remote Sensing to serve as the company's second-highest-level technical authority in SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), radar signal processing, and remote sensing phenomenology. This role provides enterprise-level leadership across the full SAR mission and data lifecycle—from sensor architecture and collection geometry through signal formation, exploitation, and operational application.
You will serve as a trusted subject matter expert to EMSI leadership, engineering teams, customers, and government stakeholders, shaping the organization's long-term technical direction and supporting business development through customer engagement, research, white papers, and proposals.
Key responsibilities include:
**SAR Technical Authority**: Serve as the principal technical authority for SAR, radar signal processing, and remote sensing phenomenology across airborne, space-based, and advanced sensor platforms. Evaluate sensor capabilities, collection geometries, waveforms, and system characteristics that drive data quality and exploitation potential. Diagnose complex SAR data quality, calibration, image formation, and exploitation challenges beyond standard engineering approaches.
**Technical Strategy and Innovation**: Establish technical vision and research priorities for SAR signal processing and exploitation; identify emerging capabilities and strategic opportunities. Lead technical trade studies and feasibility assessments for new sensor concepts, processing techniques, and algorithms. Define credible development roadmaps and review major technical assumptions across the SAR portfolio.
**Technical Leadership and Mentorship**: Provide technical direction to multidisciplinary teams of scientists, engineers, and analysts. Mentor staff in SAR fundamentals and rigorous scientific problem-solving. Conduct technical reviews to ensure analyses are scientifically sound. Serve as escalation point for the company's most difficult SAR technical challenges.
**Customer and Mission Engagement**: Serve as a trusted technical advisor to government, defense, intelligence, commercial, and research customers. Translate mission needs into technically achievable concepts. Communicate complex SAR concepts and tradeoffs to expert and non-expert stakeholders. Represent the organization in customer meetings, industry events, and advisory forums.
**Business Development and Thought Leadership**: Drive business development by identifying emerging customer needs, market opportunities, and technical gaps. Provide technical leadership for proposals, white papers, and briefings. Author or contribute to publications and patents that strengthen the organization's reputation in SAR.
**Program and Organizational Impact**: Advise executive and program leadership on major technical risks, investments, and strategic decisions. Support critical program reviews and resolution of high-impact customer concerns. Preserve and expand specialized technical knowledge as the organization grows.
This position reports to the General Manager and is onsite in El Segundo, CA.
**Requirements**
Basic Qualifications:
- Advanced degree in electrical engineering, physics, applied mathematics, radar science, signal processing, remote sensing, or a related field, or equivalent demonstrated expertise
- Typically 25+ years of progressively responsible experience in radar, SAR, signal processing, remote sensing, or related mission applications
- Nationally or internationally recognized expertise in one or more areas of SAR technology, signal processing, exploitation, or phenomenology
- Deep understanding of SAR system operation, including sensor architecture, platform motion, waveform design, collection geometry, image formation, calibration, and observable signatures
- Extensive experience with airborne, space-based, or other advanced radar sensor systems, and the ability to evaluate unfamiliar sensors and datasets using first-principles reasoning
- Experience developing or guiding advanced signal-processing and exploitation algorithms, and leading technical efforts across organizational and disciplinary boundaries
- Experience advising senior government, defense, intelligence, or commercial stakeholders, with a strong record contributing to proposals, white papers, and business-development activities
- Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to expert and non-expert audiences, mentor senior technical staff, operate effectively with limited direction, and obtain/maintain any required security clearance
Preferred Qualifications:
- Doctorate in electrical engineering, physics, applied mathematics, radar science, remote sensing, or a related discipline
- 30+ years of relevant experience across multiple SAR sensor types, platforms, frequency bands, and operating modes, with both raw/phase-history data and formed SAR imagery
- Expertise in areas such as image formation, autofocus, motion compensation, calibration, interferometry, polarimetry, target detection/recognition, geolocation, or multimodal fusion
- Experience connecting physics-based signal processing with machine learning, computer vision, or automated exploitation
- Familiarity with government research organizations, acquisition processes, and operational user communities, and a history of shaping and winning significant R&D opportunities
- Record of publications, patents, or recognized contributions to the field; experience as a chief scientist, technical fellow, technical director, or equivalent senior technical authority
