RF Engineer - Part Time

Overview

Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth. Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history, delivering an unprecedented dataset via a cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and a data company. Planet is a global company with employees working remotely worldwide and offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

Planet is a people-centric company that values culture, community, and growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.

Planet is working on the next generation small satellite bus that will host a high resolution optical imaging payload (Pelican) and a hyperspectral payload (Carbon Mapper). We have iterated and developed small spacecraft communication systems including board-level hardware, antennas, and ground station equipment that produce record data rates. Our system includes transceivers in several bands, optical laser communications systems, and a worldwide network of ground stations.

We are seeking a recent graduate or currently enrolled engineering student for a part-time RF and Communications Engineer position to assist in the development of our next-generation onboard links, ground radios, and antenna systems that push the frontiers of satellite communications. You will contribute to RF hardware and comms systems development, integration, test and characterization. You will work closely with the RF/Comms team and interact with cross-functional teams — electrical, software, and mechanical engineers — to address challenging design issues.

The ideal candidate will be excited by working in an agile, fast-paced environment, even in times of uncertainty and ambiguity.

This is a part-time, remote position based in the United States. If located near an office, you are expected to work from that office 3 days per week.

• Assist in the development of Gnu Radio based ground modem solution
• Assist in the design and verification of space segment software defined radios and modems
• RF/MW hardware transceivers: RF/Analog/Digital circuit design, simulation, instrumentation, test and characterization
• Support of RF/MW/Optical Comms system bring-up, integration and test

• Senior year level in Electrical Engineering, Physics or Computer Science
• Solid fundamentals in RF/MW, electromagnetics, and signal processing
• Ability to adapt and learn a multitude of skills to contribute to design of a complex system including modem PHY, active RF circuits, transceivers, PLL synthesizers, mixers, switches, RF amplifiers, oscillators, detectors, filters, and other building blocks for space and ground station applications
• Excellent documentation, presentation and communication skills

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Physics or Computer Science, studying for a graduate degree in STEM
• Experience with Altium or similar EDA tools, high-density PCB design, high speed clock trees
• Experience with software Defined Radio (SDR) platforms and respective signal processing libraries (e.g., GNURadio)
• Experience in Linux, Python, and data analysis tools

Final date to receive applications: April 14, 2026 at 11:59p PT

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
• Generous Paid Time Off in addition to holidays and company-wide days off
• 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Home Office Reimbursement
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
• Tuition Reimbursement and access to Linked In Learning
• Equity
• Commuter Benefits (if local to an office)
• Volunteering Paid Time Off

The US base salary range for this full-time position at the commencement of employment is listed below. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary short-term and long-term incentives (bonus and equity). The final salary range is determined by job related experience, skills and location. The range displays our typical…