RF Systems Engineer

Department: Avionics

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Redondo Beach

Reporting To: Jake Messner, Director, RF & EMC

Compensation: $115,000 - $140,000 / year

As an RF Systems Engineer, your core responsibility will be to own top-level RF system architecture for all radio communications, ranging, and positioning systems  will define the roadmap for future radio programs, drive cross-team alignment, and maintain documentation of link budgets and mission-specific hardware. You will work with RF engineers, Avionics engineers, mechanical engineers, and others to meet communication system needs across a wide range of capabilities and missions.

You’ll work with uplink and downlink radios up to 32GHz, GNSS receivers, ranging radios, desense, coexistence, and antennas.

• Coordinate RF system development to ensure alignment across mechanical, thermal, electrical RF, software, manufacturing, and supply chain
• Lead system-level trades involving transmitters, receivers, antennas, RF mechanical, power, thermal, reliability, and manufacturing
• Provide updates to engineering leadership on progress, risks, trade studies, and development timelines
• Own the technical roadmap, including technical progress and timelines, for Impulse’s future RF systems
• Work with business development to translate customer and mission needs into RF system requirements, architectures, and interfaces
• Maintain organization of RF system components, interfaces, and link budgets across Impulse’s portfolio of customers and missions
• Interface with avionics engineers to define digital and power interfaces for RF devices
• Work with regulatory team to develop compliant RF systems and license Impulse’s designs

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or related technical field
• 2+ years professional experience with direct ownership of RF communication components or systems
• Experience in development of RF link budgets including antenna patterns, atmospheric modeling, link availability, and RF transmitter and receiver characteristics
• Demonstrated ability in system architecture design for a high-reliability application
• Proficiency in common RF lab equipment such as spectrum analyzers and VNAs
• Familiarity with EM concepts of RF transmitters, RF receivers, antennas, and transmission lines
• Experience designing for and proving compliance with spectral emissions masks or similar regulatory requirements

• Familiarity with RF modeling tools such as HFSS, ADS, CST, or STK
• 2+ years of experience writing automation scripts for RF hardware test
• Proven experience working in aerospace communication links
• Experience working with high-performance GNSS receivers and GNSS simulators
• Experience with common RF protocols like SRS4, DVB-S2, and CCSDS
• Prior architectural design of L-Band, S-Band, X-Band, or Ka-Band hardware
• Familiarity with space environmental effects such as radiation, surface charging, plasma, multipaction, etc
• Familiarity with satellite spectrum licensing laws, agencies, and standards
• RF hardware debugging skills

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options
, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan
. Impulse Space’s spacecraft manufacturing business is subject to U.S. export regulations including the International…