Multidisciplinary Systems Engineer (Electronics/Software)

Job Description

Job Summary

WGS Systems, a leading innovator in communications and defense industries, is looking to expand our technical team. We are seeking an early-career multidisciplinary engineer to support product development across electronics design, hardware integration, and software development. This hybrid role offers unique exposure to both hardware and software disciplines, ideal for someone who enjoys variety and wants to build broad systems engineering capabilities in the defense/aerospace sector.

You'll contribute approximately 50% of your time to electronics engineering tasks (circuit design, PCB layout, hardware debugging, sensor integration) and 50% to software development (embedded systems, firmware development, data acquisition, and analytics infrastructure support). You'll work at the intersection of sensor hardware and data science, ensuring our RF and electronic systems function reliably while collecting high-quality data that integrates seamlessly with our analytics platform.

As our product portfolio grows, this role will evolve with your interests and company needs. This position is perfect for someone who doesn't want to be pigeonholed into a single discipline and thrives in a fast-paced, hands-on engineering environment where you'll see your work go from concept to fielded system.

Key Responsibilities

Electronics Engineering (50%):

Design and develop analog and digital circuits, power distribution systems, and signal conditioning for RF sensor platforms

Create PCB layouts and schematics using tools like Altium Designer; manage board bring-up and testing

Integrate commercial RF components, cameras, processors, and sensors into custom electronics assemblies

Debug hardware issues using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and other test equipment

Conduct EMI/EMC testing and design for compliance with MIL-STD-461 and other electromagnetic compatibility standards

Support thermal management design for electronics; coordinate with mechanical team on cooling solutions and packaging

Create and maintain electrical schematics, BOMs, wiring diagrams, and technical documentation per AS9100 standards

Work with contract manufacturers and PCB fabrication houses to transition designs to production

Software Development (50%)

Develop embedded firmware for microcontrollers and embedded Linux systems controlling RF sensors and data acquisition (C/C++, Python)

Write device drivers and hardware abstraction layers for custom electronics and sensor interfaces

Build data pipelines and ETL processes to ingest sensor data into analytics infrastructure; support integration with commercial datasets

Develop preprocessing and feature extraction algorithms for raw sensor data to support ML model development

Create APIs and communication protocols between embedded systems and cloud analytics platforms; ensure data quality and formatting standards

Implement real-time data processing and streaming for low-latency sensor applications

Develop test automation and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing frameworks for electronics validation

Contribute to version control practices (Git), continuous integration, and documentation for firmware deliverables

Cross Functional Collaboration:

Work closely with RF engineers, data scientists, and senior systems engineers to integrate electronics and software subsystems

Partner with data science team to ensure sensor data collection meets analytics requirements; implement data quality checks and validation

Support development of data infrastructure for model training, including data storage, versioning, and retrieval systems

Collaborate with mechanical engineers on enclosure design, thermal management, and electromagnetic shielding requirements

Support Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), customer demonstrations, and field testing activities

Participate in design reviews, failure analysis, root cause investigations, and continuous product improvement initiatives Required Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or related field

2-5 years of professional experience in electronics design and embedded software development, preferably in defense, aerospace, or RF systems

U.S. Citizen (required for contract work; ability to obtain USG Security Clearance

Proficiency in PCB design tools (Altium Designer or similar) with experience designing multi-layer boards

Strong programming skills in C/C++ for embedded systems (required); proficiency in Python for scripting and data processing

Understanding communication protocols: SPI, I2C, UART, USB, Ethernet, CAN

Preferred Skills

Active Secret or higher clearance

Experience with RF systems, SDRs (software-defined radios), or SIGINT sensor integration

Familiarity with RF circuit design, matching networks, filters, amplifiers, or antenna integration

Experience with FPGA development (VHDL/Verilog) for signal processing or high-speed data acquisition

Familiarity with power management ICs, battery systems, and low-power design techniques

Experience with Git/version control, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing frameworks

Knowledge of cybersecurity and/or anti-tamper principles for embedded systems and secure boot implementations

Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS IoT, GCP) and containerization (Docker) for edge computing applications

Background in signal processing, DSP algorithms, or time-series data analysis

Prior work in small team environments where you wore multiple hats

Compensation:

Minimum 106,000 Maximum 143,000

WGS Systems, LLC, based in Frederick, Maryland, provides systems and products that support

our military and homeland security front line personnel. We have been recognized as a small-

business industry leader by the state of Maryland by winning the Homeland Security Award

from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. Our offerings include

signal collection and processing systems; first responder protection systems; airborne and

ground-based systems development; multiple sensor integration and fusion; radar, imagery,

and signal exploitation systems integration; advanced computing and networking architecture

development; and communications networks for off-board voice and data dissemination.

We are looking for the highest quality, motivated personnel to help our company continue to

grow into the preeminent sensor and system developer for the defense and homeland security

of our country.

WGS Systems is proud to be an EEO employer M/F/D/V.

Full-time

Hybrid remote