Digital Signal Processing Engineer

JOB DESCRIPTION

• Implementation of digital signal processing (DSP) products, applications and/or algorithms for Radio Astronomy data processing systems that satisfy higher-level system functional and performance requirements
• Implementation of these products contains elements of digital signal processing system design, FPGA development, software development and high-speed data transport
• Support analysis, definition, integration, verification and validation activities of DSP products at various system levels
• Development of software to control, monitor, debug and support operation of the developed products and applications
• Follow and support the relevant Systems Engineering processes for product development throughout the entire product or application lifecycle from conceptualisation through to decommissioning
• Support deployment, maintenance, upgrades, operation and decommissioning of developed products

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Qualification:

• Tech (Eng) (NQF 7) in Electrical, Electronics or Mechatronics Engineering with 6+ years relevant experience, OR
• Eng/B.Sc (Eng) (NQF 8) in Electrical, Electronics or Mechatronics Engineering with 4+ years relevant experience; OR
• MSc / M.Eng (NQF 9) in Electrical, Electronics or Mechatronics Engineering with 3+ years relevant experience; OR
• PhD (NQF 10) in Electrical, Electronics or Mechatronics Engineering with 1+ years relevant experience

Experience:

• Experience as a DSP or FPGA Engineer with experience implementing digital signal processing algorithms on FPGA-based hardware using HDL or other design tools
• Experience in designing digital signal processing systems at a higher, product level or in low-level implementation of components and features
• Experience building data processing applications specifically for Radio Astronomy instrumentation is advantageous but not required
• Implementing parallel processing on FPGA hardware
• Implementation of accelerated and optimised DSP algorithms
• Experience analysing system requirements and defining a suitable system design
• Writing technical documentation describing the implementation and design of products at various technical levels
• Software Development or Scientific Computing proficiency in either Python, C++, or Matlab
• Working with workflow and issue management tools (e.g., JIRA)
• Working with source code and version control tools (e.g., Git)

Knowledge:

• Multi-rate and parallel implementations of Digital Signal Processing Operations such as FFTs, Filters, DDS, DDC
• Knowledge of FPGA firmware design, parallel implementation and FPGA design tools
• Typical radio astronomy instrumentation: e.g., spectrometers, correlators, beamformers (advantageous)
• High-speed data transport such as ethernet and/or knowledge of large-scale networks (advantageous)
• Controlling and monitoring of DSP applications and components
• Systems Engineering Processes or Software Design Life Cycle
• Software Development or Scientific Computing proficiency in either Python, C++, or Matlab
• Linux operating systems and development tools