Intelligence Starts With People
At Xenon Innovations, we solve complex problems that strengthen national security and protect what matters most. We’re looking for mission-driven professionals who are curious, collaborative, and committed.
Why Xenon?
What We Build
Communications intelligence and signal processing systems that get fielded and used, not prototyped and shelved. Multi-platform, deployed, and operating in spectrum that does not cooperate.
We Are Growing
Our customer keeps asking for more capacity than we can field, and that growth arrives in steps rather than all at once. We would rather know who we want to call before the next one lands than start looking after. These roles are a spread, not a fixed org chart. If your title is not an exact match, or your timing is six months out, talk to us anyway.
Who You’d Work For
Xenon was founded by Chris Costa, who spent twenty years in COMINT engineering before starting it, including chief engineer on an ACAT II program of record. He reads every resume and runs every intro call himself.
Benefits & Perks
401(k)
A 3% safe harbor contribution plus profit sharing on top. We plan for 20% of salary as the floor and target 25% in years we hit our numbers; that’s the IRS limit on deductible employer contributions. Nothing required from you, and you’re immediately vested.
Health, Dental, & Vision
Our rule for coverage is simple: it should be excellent, and using it shouldn’t cost you much. We fund the plan rather than pushing premium onto your paycheck, and dependents are covered.
Unlimited PTO
Take as much as needed to keep you at top performance. No accrual, no cap, no separate sick bank. We ask that you take at least three weeks a year.
Bonuses
When the company does well and you’re part of why, you see it.
Small Team, High Bar
Every hire clears the same technical bar, and the President is in every loop. At our size, one bad hire is felt by everyone, so we don’t make them.
Professional Development
Certifications, training, and support for growth.Tell us what you want to learn and we’ll find the budget.
Flexible Scheduling
Hybrid where mission requirements allow. Classified work happens on site; the rest is negotiable.
Flat Structure & Direct Access
One layer between you and the President. Decisions get made in the room you’re in, and whoever owns the work owns the call.
Open Positions
Not cleared? You can still start. We sponsor, and you work and get paid while your investigation runs.
Embedded Software Engineer
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Build the C/C++ layer between our signal processing acquisition hardware and everything above it: drivers, high-rate data movement, and the fault recovery that keeps a system running.
FPGA / DSP Firmware Engineer
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a secret clearance
Implement wideband channelization, filtering, and demodulation in HDL on RFSoC-class hardware at line rate, inside a fixed resource and power budget.
DSP Engineer
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Design the detection, demodulation, classification, and geolocation algorithms at the core of our systems, then carry them from prototype through real-time implementation on deployed hardware. You will work signals that are weak, brief, and uncooperative, in spectrum that is anything but clean.
Software Engineer
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Design the pipelines, services, and storage that carry signal metadata and product from collection to the people who need it on platforms with constrained bandwidth, constrained storage, and an unreliable link to anywhere else.
Test & Integration Engineer
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Prove the system works before the deployed operator finds out it doesn’t. You will build automated test infrastructure and execute verification from the bench to acceptance.
Cybersecurity Engineer
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Build the automation that makes STIG and SRG hardening, SBOM generation, and supply chain assurance properties of the build system rather than manual end-of-cycle work. This is an engineering position; you will write the automation, not manually run routine scans.
Quality Assurance Lead
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Stand up Xenon’s quality program from scratch: design it, implement it, and measure whether it is working. Software is the initial focus, but the eventual scope is company-wide. Reports directly to the President, because quality assurance only works when it is independent.
Software Quality Assurance Engineer
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Implement the software quality program inside the development lifecycle and push quality upstream into design. Review architectures and designs for testability and verification approach before the code exists. Defects caught at design cost a fraction of defects caught when deployed.
Systems Engineer
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Translate operational requirements into buildable specifications and interfaces, then hold the design accountable to them through verification, validation, and delivery.
DevOps Engineer
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Own the build, release, and development infrastructure that lets a small engineering team ship reliably across both unclassified and air-gapped enclaves.
Principal Systems Architect
Full-Time
Fairfax, VA
Requires ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Set the architecture for our multi-platform COMINT systems and serve as chief engineer on assigned programs. This is a senior technical role, with the expectation that you stay in the design rather than above it.
What Happens After You Apply
Your resume is read by the President, not filtered by software. You will hear back either way within five business days.
1. Intro call, 30 minutes. With Chris, the founder. What you have built, what you want to work on next, and what we are actually building. Not a screening call with a recruiter who cannot answer your questions.
2. Technical conversation, about 90 minutes. With the engineers you would work alongside. We talk through real problems from real programs. No trivia questions, and no take-home assignments.
3. Decision. Usually within two weeks of the first call. You will get a straight answer, including if it is a no.
Clearance. If you are already cleared, crossover is usually quick. If you are not, we sponsor, and you start working and getting paid while the process runs. We have enough unclassified work that you will not be sitting at home waiting on a start date.
If the timing is wrong. Sometimes we meet someone good and do not have the right opening yet. When that happens we say so directly, and Chris keeps the conversation going.
Xenon Innovations, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or protected veteran status. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions
Don’t See the Right Fit?
Send your resume to careers@xenoninnovations.com and tell us what you want to be working on. It goes to the founder, not to a database. We will read it and when something opens that matches, you will hear from us directly.