DSP Simulation Engineer

Northwood is on a mission to transform connectivity between Earth and space. Satellites are only as powerful as the ground systems that connect to them - without that critical infrastructure, they can’t be steered or send their data back to Earth. Northwood’s global ground network ensures that missions ranging from national security, to global connectivity, to disaster response can unlock their full potential and operate every day without fail. We take a vertically integrated approach to building an end-to-end ground system, delivering technology that is scalable and reliable for both government and commercial customers.

Backed by over $100M from investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Washington Harbour Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, Founders Fund, and others, Northwood has proven its ability to move fast – we’ve stood up a fully operational site in Australia in just 3 months, where similar efforts typically take years.

Northwood is rapidly scaling its global footprint, with 30+ sites planned across 2026 and 2027. We’re building and deploying infrastructure at a pace the industry hasn’t seen before. If you thrive on building quickly, solving hard problems, and seeing your work deployed globally on critical missions, we want you at Northwood.

DSP SIMULATION ENGINEER (ANTENNA & RF SYSTEMS):

We are looking for a DSP Simulation Engineer to lead the creation and development of our next-generation system-level simulation frameworks. In this role, you will build from-scratch, high-fidelity digital signal processing models to simulate, analyze, and predict the performance of our advanced antenna and phased array systems. You will bridge the gap between theoretical RF physics and digital reality, providing the crucial virtual sandbox where our waveforms, beamforming algorithms, and hardware architectures are stressed and validated before a single line of RTL is written.

This role is a great fit for an engineer with a passion for mathematical modeling, strong software engineering fundamentals, and a deep curiosity about satellite communications and electromagnetic environments. We care more about how you think and build than how many years you have been doing it.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design and build from-scratch, end-to-end simulation frameworks to model phased array antenna systems, RF front-ends, and propagation channels.

• Develop high-fidelity models of physical layer phenomena, including beamforming networks, thermal noise, phase noise, non-linearities, and atmospheric impairments.

• Evaluate and predict system performance metrics (such as EVM, BER, SNR, and beam patterns) under diverse, dynamic operational scenarios to inform hardware and architecture decisions.

• Collaborate closely with DSP algorithm, RF, and Antenna engineers to validate hardware designs and link budget assumptions against simulation ground truths.

• Optimize simulation performance and scalability, ensuring software tools can handle complex multi-element arrays and high-throughput data streams efficiently.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree with 2-5+ years of relevant experience, or Master’s degree with 1-4+ years of experience, in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Math, or a related field focusing on numerical simulation.

• Strong programming skills in Python (including libraries like NumPy, SciPy, or PyTorch) for mathematical and statistical modeling.

• Exposure to performance-oriented languages such as C++ or Rust for accelerating simulation runtimes.

• Solid understanding of digital communication fundamentals, signal processing (filtering, sampling theory), and basic electromagnetics/antenna theory (array factors, beamforming).

• Demonstrated ownership of a simulation outcome: you built a complex numerical model from scratch, validated it against real-world or theoretical data, and used it to drive engineering decisions.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience modeling phased arrays, spatial channel models (such as MIMO or multipath fading), or dynamic orbital mechanics for satellite communications.

• Familiarity with fixed-point effects and simulating hardware bit-true behavior.

• Knowledge of RF impairments (such as PA non-linearity, IQ imbalance, and quantization noise) and how to model them mathematically.

• Experience with high-performance computing (HPC), parallel computing (CUDA/OpenCL), or cloud-based simulation scaling.

• Familiarity with satellite communication standards (such as DVB-S2X or CCSDS) or modern SDR frameworks.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

DSP Engineer/Level 1: $100,000 - $140,000 per year

DSP Engineer/Level 2: $140,000 - $170,000 per year

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related knowledge, skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at Northwood. You may also be eligible for equity in the form of stock options or other long-term incentives, as well as potential performance bonuses. We offer comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, a 401(k) retirement plan, short- and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, generous paid time off, and various other perks and discounts.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Northwood is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.