Senior RF Systems Engineer

Location

Torrance, CA

Full time

Engineering

• $150K - $230K Offers Equity

Compensation at Northwood Space is based on role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary depending on job-related skills, education, experience, and technical expertise. In addition to base salary, Northwood Space offers long-term incentives such as company stock options and discretionary performance bonuses. Benefits include equity, comprehensive health care, flexible vacation, retirement savings plans, and opportunities for professional development.

As a Senior RF Systems Engineer, you will architect, define, and evaluate advanced RF communication systems supporting satellite and ground network products. This role sits at the intersection of customer requirements, product development, and multi-disciplinary engineering - translating mission needs into scalable, high-performance RF architectures and hardware specifications.

You will guide communication products through the entire development lifecycle, bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and real-world deployment. Collaborating closely with electrical, software, and manufacturing teams, you will act as a key technical liaison for customers, ensuring our products deliver robust link performance, regulatory compliance, and seamless system integration at a global scale.

• System Architecture & Product Definition: Translate customer requirements and mission needs into top-level RF system architectures, hardware specifications, and product features.

• Customer Engagement: Serve as a primary technical interface for customers, guiding them through system integration, conducting design reviews, and matching product capabilities to their operational needs.

• Link & System Modeling: Develop and maintain end-to-end communication system models, detailed link budgets, and RF lineup analyses (including cascaded noise figure, linearity, and phase noise) to optimize product performance.

• Product Development Lifecycle: Drive RF systems from initial concept and prototyping through regulatory compliance testing, manufacturing scale-up, and field deployment.

• Verification & Validation: Lead integrated system-level testing, validating physical-layer and product-level metrics such as EIRP, G/T, EVM, BER, and throughput under real-world conditions.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner with RF design, DSP, embedded software, and product management teams to guide feature implementation and resolve complex system-level anomalies.

• Regulatory & Compliance Support: Assist in securing regulatory approvals (ITU, FCC, etc.) by analyzing spectral compliance, co-existence, and emissions profiles.

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Communications Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

• Experience: 5+ years of experience in RF systems engineering, communication system architecture, or RF product development.

• Technical Foundation: Deep understanding of RF front-end architectures, transceiver design, and digital communication theory (modulation schemes, coding, and physical layer protocols).

• Analytical Tools: Proficiency in MATLAB, Python, or similar scripting languages for modeling RF lineups, link budgets, and data analysis.

• Lab Expertise: Hands-on experience with RF laboratory test equipment, including spectrum analyzers, vector network analyzers, and vector signal generators/analyzers.

• Customer-Facing Success: Proven track record in a technical sales, applications engineering, or systems engineering role interfacing directly with external customers or partners.

• Product Delivery: Experience bringing commercial RF or wireless communication hardware products from concept through high-volume production.

• Advanced Link Analysis: Strong expertise in complex link budget modeling, propagation impairment analysis, and interference mitigation.

• Signal Integrity & Metrics: Deep familiarity with physical-layer performance optimization, including EVM, BER, PAPR, and…