Programming-Associate

Overview

The Tactical Defense Systems Group drives innovation in air defense to enhance the effectiveness of U.S. Air Force (USAF) operations. Our team addresses critical challenges in air vehicle survivability, vulnerabilities to advanced weapons systems, electronic countermeasure development, testing infrastructure, and air surveillance for homeland defense. By combining cutting‑edge technology with creative problem‑solving, we shape the future of air defense through impactful solutions.

We conduct flight, field, and laboratory testing to understand USAF and adversary air defense systems. Our team designs and develops specialized instrumentation and prototype systems to support these initiatives. Each year, we lead major field‑testing campaigns using a fleet of highly instrumented aircraft and advanced ground systems, while local testing ensures flight readiness and system validation. We analyze data collected during testing and compare it with sophisticated models in collaboration with the Systems and Analysis Group (109).

These efforts deliver precise answers to critical questions from Air Force partners.

The Tactical Defense Systems Group is seeking candidates to join our team as an Associate Staff. You will play a key role in advancing cutting‑edge sensor technologies through hands‑on testing, analysis, and system development. This position offers the opportunity to collaborate with a team of engineers to design, execute, and analyze data from laboratory, field, and flight tests of advanced radio‑frequency (RF), infrared (IR), and optical sensors.

• Support the software development team, including planning and support of multiple RF and IR sensors and platforms.
• Develop and integrate multi-threaded, object-oriented C++ radar signal processing algorithms that perform noise mitigation, target detection, and tracking using Boost and Qt.
• Instruct and enable complex software development across diverse teams.
• Build a detailed understanding of the sensors by working closely with technical staff and participating during test execution, collecting critical test data.
• Help integrate cross‑platform code to increase efficiency and support technical staff with detailed analysis of collected data.
• Create dashboard GUIs that allow control of system software, display current system status, and record/playback data.
• Mentor junior staff and interns, providing technical guidance and fostering professional growth.
• Communicate effectively with teams and stakeholders to refine methodologies and share results.
• Demonstrate curiosity and initiative, exploring new technologies to enhance testing capabilities.
• Collaborate with engineers and scientists to troubleshoot and construct end-to-end systems.
• Develop innovative solutions for testing challenges, improving methodologies and systems.
• Promote mentorship and inclusion, encouraging diverse perspectives and a positive team culture.
• Participate in test planning and field test operations, as well as analysis and presentation of data collected during field tests.
• Be self-driven, possess effective communication skills, and be comfortable working with fellow engineers to implement complex software projects.
• Travel domestically as required to support field and flight test campaigns.

• Master's degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• In lieu of a Master's, a Bachelor's degree plus 3+ years of directly applicable experience.
• Practical software development experience with RF, IR, radar, or optical sensors.
• Understanding of interfaces between hardware and software systems.
• Experience designing engineering-oriented user interfaces.
• Experience with data collection systems in the RF, radar, or optical domains is desired.
• Knowledge of software design tools, including C++ and MATLAB.
• Demonstrated effective oral and written communication skills.

Recent Graduate Hiring Range: $116,400 – $140,000
Experienced Hiring Range: $116,400 – $182,200

MIT Lincoln Laboratory provides a typical hiring range as a good faith estimate of what we reasonably expect to offer for this position at the time of posting.…