Lead Systems Architect, High-Speed Modems

About the role

One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we’re on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We’re looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain end-to-end modem and communications system architectures
• Manage system and subsystem requirements, including decomposition, allocation, and traceability
• Lead trade studies involving waveform design and implementation approaches
• Provide technical leadership across FPGA, ASIC, hardware, software, and systems engineering teams
• Coordinate internal and subcontractor modem development activities
• Interface directly with customers and support technical reviews
• Lead system integration, verification, and validation activities
• Identify and manage technical risks and performance margins
• Support major design reviews and proposal activities
• Support proposal development by constructing detailed Basis of Estimates (BOEs) and maintaining program execution cadence across key milestones

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or related technical field (Master’s preferred)
• 10+ years of experience in developing complex algorithm for modem design or system architecture definition, design, integration, and testing
• Expertise in digital modem timing recovery, frequency acquisition and recovery, AGC, carrier/phase recovery, and FEC
• Working knowledge of modern digital communications systems, DSP, and modem design
• Knowledge of Ethernet, optical transport networking, framing, and data formatting standards
• Experience modeling modem algorithms using MATLAB, Python, C, or C++
• Experience implementing or guiding modem implementations in FPGA and/or ASIC technologies
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary technical teams
• Strong customer-facing communication skills
• U.S. Citizenship
• Ability to travel up to 10%

Qualifications

• Active U.S. security clearance
• Experience designing satellite, optical, or terrestrial communications systems
• Experience leading modem architecture and technical teams
• Free-space optical communications experience
• 100G+ communications ASIC experience
• Space systems and payload experience
• Familiarity with CCSDS, DVB-S2X, Ethernet, and optical networking protocols
• MBSE and requirements-based verification experience

Pay

Salary range $141,500.00 - $224,000.00 annually. For specific work locations within San Jose, the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, the base pay range for this role is $176,000.00‑$264,000.00 annually.

Benefits

Additional cash or stock incentives may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position offered. Learn more about Viasat’s comprehensive benefit offerings that are focused on your holistic health and wellness at https://careers.viasat.com/benefits.