Senior Communications and Signal Processing Engineer

Mission and Location

New ideas are all around us, but only a few will change the world. That’s our focus  ask the biggest questions, then search the universe for answers—literally. We build upon ideas that have guided generations, then share our discoveries to inspire generations to come. Your mission—your opportunity— is to seek out the answers that bring us one step closer. If you’re driven to discover, create, and inspire something that lasts a lifetime and beyond, you’re ready for JPL.

Located in Pasadena, California, JPL has a campus-like environment situated on 177 acres in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and offers a work environment unlike any other: we inspire passion, foster innovation, build collaboration, and reward excellence.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Communications and Instruments Division conducts scientific investigations, advanced technology research, engineering development, and system implementation in space telecommunications, tracking, and active remote sensing using electromagnetic waves. The Ground Communications & Architectures Section (361) provides end‑to‑end communications system engineering and architectures across RF and optical domains, including long‑term network evolution and planning; development of large ground antennas for the Deep Space Network (DSN);

low‑noise amplifiers, transmitters, and RF feed systems; channel coding and data compression; advanced digital receivers for antenna arraying and weak‑signal tracking; entry, descent, and landing (EDL) support; optical communications; global spectrum management; and solar‑system radar operations supporting planetary defense, debris characterization, and radio science. The Advanced Communications & Networking Group within Section 361 is seeking a Senior Communications and Signal Processing Engineer.

The group’s work includes pioneering contributions to the theory, design, and standardization of turbo codes and low‑density parity‑check (LDPC) codes, as well as efficient algorithms for compressing still and hyperspectral imagery, all which enable energy‑efficient and reliable communication of data from NASA/JPL spacecraft instruments to Earth. Currently, the group is focused on applying its core expertise to a broad set of applications in data compression, RF, optical, and quantum communications, and signal analysis and machine learning to support efficient extraction of information from a variety of data sources.

Key customers include both NASA and non‑NASA sponsors.

• Lead development of new business opportunities, including proposals, technical approaches, and strategic initiatives.
• Drive research and development in areas such as RF and optical digital modems, adaptive signal processing, optical receivers and arraying systems, advanced modulation and encoding/decoding, synchronization, positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), and ranging.
• Plan, lead, and execute technical tasks within the Advanced Communications & Networking Group.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight across the group and the institution, guiding capabilities, aligning efforts across teams, and representing JPL in collaborations with external partners.
• Contribute to defining capability goals, strategy, and long‑term technical direction.

• PhD in electrical engineering, signal analysis, or a similar discipline with a minimum of 8 years of related work experience;
  Master’s degree in a similar discipline with a minimum of 10 years of related experience;
  Bachelor’s degree in a similar discipline with a minimum of 12 years of related experience.
• Significant expertise in analysis of telecommunication or communication signal processing systems and technology development.
• Extensive understanding and wide application of advanced principles, theories, and concepts for signal analysis and technical analyses of telecommunications systems, contributing to the development of new theories and methods.
• Demonstrated application of advanced theories and principles in areas such as:
  • Information theory
  • Source coding
  • Channel coding
  • Detection and estimation theory
  • Digital and adaptive signal processing
  • RF or optical…