Senior Space Systems Engineer

Senior Space Systems Engineer

Location:

Reston, VA, US, 20191 Work Arrangement:
Hybrid Job

At SES Space & Defense, we are a trusted partner ensuring mission success for customers operating in the most demanding environments. As part of SES S.A., a global leader in satellite-enabled connectivity, we deliver multi-orbit, end-to-end satellite and technology solutions that provide secure, reliable, and high-bandwidth communications across the globe. Our differentiated multi-orbit architecture combines GEO and MEO satellite systems with integrated terrestrial and network infrastructure to deliver resilient, low-latency, high-throughput connectivity at a global scale.

With more than 120 satellites covering nearly the entire world, a global ground network, and thousands of deployed terminals supporting over 5,000 government missions annually, SES Space and Defense is a trusted partner to the U.S. Federal Government and national security community, allied governments, NATO, and agencies including NASA for mission-critical communications. We strive to be the only solution when success is critical and recognize our people as our competitive advantage.

At SES Space & Defense, you'll work alongside a mission-driven team committed to integrity, honor, and accountability, delivering real-world impact across today's most critical missions. SES Space and Defense is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

As a Senior RF Communications Engineer, you will lead the design, analysis, and optimization of RF communications performance across SES Space & Defense's space architectures, assisting in the development of link budgets, modeling RF impairments, and ensuring robust end to ‑end connectivity for mission critical SATCOM operations. You'll integrate and assist with testing waveforms, modems, antennas, and RF subsystems. You will solve complex interoperability challenges, support advanced waveform and capability development, and drive enhancements that strengthen resilience, throughput, and reliability.

You'll also collaborate across space, systems, and network engineering teams, support operational missions with RF troubleshooting, and contribute to technical governance, readiness assessments, and system level ‑performance decisions.

• Own RF communications design elements within the overall space architecture, including link budgets, waveform performance, and terminal to‑ ‑network RF behavior.
• Lead RF integration and test activities across space, ground, and user terminals.
• Validate RF system performance against requirements such as Eb/N₀ margins, throughput, interference resilience, and mission availability.

• Build and refine high performance RF links for low‑ latency‑ LEO SATCOM, ensuring robustness across dynamic orbital and tactical environments.
• Solve complex interoperability issues involving waveforms, modems, antennas, terminal radios, and networking interfaces.

• Ensures mission critical communications reliability for U.S. Government and commercial customers who rely on SES space architectures.
• Enables technical clarity and risk reduction through expert RF engineering support across multi orbit‑ and multi‑vendor environments.
• Accelerates delivery of advanced, resilient RF capabilities that improve operational performance and mission outcomes.

• Involves advanced RF engineering in the context of cutting-edge LEO and multi‑ orbit‑ SATCOM systems.
• Requires working across antenna systems, waveforms, modems, link layer‑ networking, and integrated ground infrastructure.
• Operates at the intersection of cutting-edge communications technology, real‑ world‑ environmental constraints, and demanding mission needs.

We are looking for an experienced RF communications engineer with a strong record of owning and delivering…