Radar PCB Engineer

Vernius builds radar seekers for interceptors. Ukraine produces around 50,000 interceptors a month, and almost all of them still need a pilot for manual guidance. We make the guidance module that enables autonomy on every interceptor drone - helping to take down the hundreds of Shahed strike drones that threaten cities and critical infrastructure every day.

We're integrating with Ukraine's largest interceptor manufacturers, with pilots planned across several of Ukraine's most prominent military brigades, and our radars will be deployed on over 10,000 interceptors every month starting in 2027. We're a small founding team that has shipped satellites, Tomahawk missile mission software, and FPV hardware to units on the front.

Vernius is backed by former National Security Advisor LTG H.R. McMaster, UA1, Pioneer Fund, Rebel Fund, and Palm Drive Capital. We're expanding our team slowly and for the long term: we believe in bringing on a small number of critical founding engineers who each own a large piece of the product.

Founding PCB Engineer - Radar Seekers for Interceptors

What we do

Vernius builds 24 GHz phased array radar seekers for interceptors that defend against Shahed-class strike drones, the threat hitting Ukraine every night and increasingly facing the US and its allies. In your first 30 days, you will finalize the PCB layout for our V2 interceptor radar seeker; by day 90, you will be overseeing the first batch of 1,000 boards through the assembly line.

The scale

The PCBs you ship will be deployed on over 10,000 interceptors every month. We're integrating with the largest interceptor manufacturers in Ukraine, with pilots planned across multiple frontline formations, including one of Ukraine's largest army corps and a dedicated unmanned systems brigade. A board you finish this month can be in the field the next.

Team

We're three founders who've shipped hardware and software where failure isn't an option: Hisham El-Halabi put a satellite in low Earth orbit, Joseph Gonzalez built the mission planning software for the US Navy's Tomahawk fleet, and Arthur Nguyen-Cao ran engineering at Defense Tech for Ukraine, shipping FPV hardware to frontline operators. Arthur and Hisham previously founded an AI smart glasses company covered by The Verge. Between us we have over a decade of hardware experience, and we're building the seeker that’s going on tens of thousands of interceptors a month.

We're backed by former US National Security Advisor LTG H.R. McMaster, in addition to UA1, Pioneer Fund, Rebel Fund, and Palm Drive Capital.

The role

The array design, components, and BOM are done. We need someone to own the PCB from schematic to working board, and to get a 24 GHz phased array into a small, cheap form factor that can be built at tens of thousands of units a month.

• Own the entire PCB design process: schematic, layout, stackup, DFM. First-pass yield and spin count are yours.
• Work with our simulation team to close the loop between EM and thermal results and layout.
• Build our in-house AI tooling for PCB design, with the long-term goal of a pipeline that generates and validates boards with very little human time.

Who we're hiring

A small core team of founding engineers who ship prototypes fast and want to build the automation that makes the next one faster. We hire slowly and for the long term. We’re looking to bring a small handful of people who each own a large piece of the product.

Requirements

• RF PCB design experience
• Shipped at least one ambitious self-directed PCB project on an aggressive timeline
• US citizen

Bonus

• Shipped radar or phased array PCBs
• Former founder or founding engineer at a hardtech, space, defense, or aerospace startup
• Published research, or shipped PCBs at scale
• Willing to travel to Ukraine

Tech Stack

• KiCad or Altium (required)
• Ansys HFSS (bonus)
• OpenEMS (bonus)

Archimedes is a phased array radar seeker that fits in the nose of a mass-produced interceptor. It takes a cue from the ground network and guides the interceptor to a Shahed-class target beyond visual range in any weather. The DSP has been validated on live targets in a contested EW environment. The hard problems are in the hardware: building a phased array at tens of thousands of units a month, with optimal EM performance, and matching simulation to what the boards do on the bench. We're also building in-house AI tooling so our engineers can design and validate boards faster.

Our interview process is fast and informal. We can make a decision after 2 calls, one introductory call, and one call to meet the team.