Senior Ground System I&T Engineer

Title: Senior Ground System I&T Engineer

Location: 100% Onsite in Northridge, CA

Duration: 1 year contract (multi-year extensions/conversion to FTE possible)

Compensation: $90/hr - $110/hr

Work Requirements: US Citizen

Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a US Citizen.

The successful applicant will be involved in the design, installation, testing, and maintenance of satellite ground station antennas across outdoor, datacenter, and lab environments, including support for Ground System HITL and Spacecraft HITL. This work will span mechanical, electrical, and RF systems, as well as optical and copper cabling, harness and metal design, fabrication, and equipment logistics. The role will also occasionally require travel to remote ground gateway antenna system sites to perform installation, troubleshooting, and ongoing maintenance.

Day-to-day, you will be responsible for:

• Configure, operate and maintain ground gateway support equipment, antenna stations and sub systems
• Design and build ground gateway communication systems and involve in all aspects of development (site survey, system design, hardware selection, hardware integration, end-to-end testing, site activation, maintenance, and operations)
• Design, build and operate hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) of ground gateway antenna systems, support equipment racks and interface to flight hardwares, and other development environments
• Lead the hardware selection, system integration, test, troubleshoot of ground gateway communication support equipment rack hardware and software
• Create Schematics and BOM of test systems and mission critical sub systems and entire system.
• Procure hardware, components, consumable and parts, and perform inventory management including spare parts.
• Oversee production, testing, quality control, shipment of logistics of ground system hardware
• Interface with multiple disciplines including customers, suppliers, manufacturers, internal/external integration & test engineers, RF engineers, network engineers, technicians, etc.

Must-Haves:

• Strong RF system level experience and understanding of RF fundamentals
• 7-10+ years of hardware experience with spacecraft, ground stations, IT/networks, other communication systems
• 7-10+ years of industry experience in design and implementation of RF systems and system-level communication architectures
• Experience with RF Test equipment: VNA, VSG, Channel Emulator, GPS Simulator
• Strong Knowledge of the main network protocols and services (e.g. IP, TCP, UDP, DNS, SNMP, NTP, DHCP, VPNs)
• Experience with satcom equipment and RF parts including BUC, LNB, LNA, Coupler, SDR, ACU, RF antenna feed, RF Filters, and other RF components.
• Experience developing tools in Python or Matlab in the use of Visio or other CAD software to develop system schematics.
• Experience developing link budgets and other engineering calculations related to system specification and design.
• Experience with LEO, MEO, and/or GEO Satellite ground stations related engineering experience
• Experience with high voltage AC power (110V - 480
  
  VAC), DC Power (3.3
  
  VDC-48
  
  VDC), UPS, PDU, Battery modules, ATS, Power Generator.

• Experience with Protocase design, hardware assembly, andtest.
• Experience with Linux and Windows server administration.
• Experience with Atlassian Tools such as JIRA, Confluence, Bitbucket.

• Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal, communication, and organization skills.
• Strong troubleshooting and root cause analysis skills.
• Ability to travel to and work at remote sites supporting test integration, commissioning, and training as required.
• Solid fundamental knowledge of networks, electronics, math, engineering, and physics.
• Creative approach to problem solving, engineering, and design with exceptional analytical skills.
• Ability to work independently and in a team in ambiguity settings, take initiative, and communicate effectively.
• Excellent communications skills with the ability to communicate with internal/external customers, vendors, management etc. in both formal and informal situations.
• Physical effort including…