Telecom Engineer

PAVE Space SA; Villeneuve (VD); Remote; CHF 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

PAVE Space SA is building LYOBA, a heavy kick stage capable of moving up to 4-tonne payloads from LEO to high-energy orbits in under 24 hours. The telecom subsystem owner will define RF link budgets and establish subsystem requirements, sourcing hardware and coordinating flight-ready test campaigns.

Ideal candidates bring 2+ years in telecom engineering, strong RF budgeting skills, and experience with space telecom hardware and regulatory filings.

Qualifications

• Degree in Telecommunications or equivalent earned in practice.
• 2+ years of hands-on telecom engineering, integration, and testing.
• Strong experience building RF link budgets and translating them into hardware requirements.
• Knowledge of space communication regulation.
• Experience specifying and integrating spacecraft telecom hardware.
• Hands-on with RF lab equipment (spectrum analyzer, power meter, VNA, etc.)
• Familiarity with spacecraft environmental and integration constraints (thermal, vibration, radiation)
• Clear and effective English communication
• Nice to have: space industry experience, familiarity with ECSS standards, EMI/EMC, MATLAB/Python, CST/HFSS, space communication protocol knowledge, French.

Responsibilities

• Define, maintain, and own RF link budgets across various scenarios.
• Establish requirements and specifications for the telecom subsystem.
• Source and select telecom equipment.
• Establish and participate in subsystem and spacecraft test campaigns.
• Collaborate with ground segment stakeholders to ensure end-to-end performance and flight readiness.
• Coordinate with local and international authorities for radio licensing and ITU filings.

Skills

RF link budgets

Telecom engineering

Lab instrumentation

Regulatory knowledge

Systems integration

English communication

Education

Degree in Telecommunications

Tools

Spectrum analyzer

Vector Network Analyzer

Power meter

Job description

PAVE Space is building LYOBA, a heavy kick stage moving up to 4-tonne payloads from LEO to high-energy orbits in under 24 hours. We're also developing IBEX, a high mobility spacecraft.

We're starting to define requirements for telecom hardware and beginning ITU filing groundwork. The subsystem needs an owner who can take it from link budget through to qualified hardware on the spacecraft.

You will own

Define, maintain, and own RF link budgets across various scenarios

Establish requirements and specifications for the telecom subsystem

Source and select telecom equipment

Establish and participate in subsystem and spacecraft test campaigns

Collaborate with ground segment stakeholders (ground stations, operations) to ensure end-to-end performance and flight readiness

Coordinate with local and international authorities for radio licensing and ITU filings

What we are looking for

Degree in Telecommunications or equivalent earned in practice

2+ years of hands-on telecom engineering, integration, and testing

Strong experience building RF link budgets and translating them into hardware requirements

Knowledge of space communication regulation

Experience specifying and integrating spacecraft telecom hardware

Hands-on with RF lab equipment (spectrum analyzer, power meter, VNA, etc.)

Familiarity with spacecraft environmental and integration constraints (thermal, vibration, radiation)

Clear and effective English communication

Nice to have: space industry experience, familiarity with ECSS standards, EMI/EMC, MATLAB/Python, CST/HFSS, space communication protocol knowledge, French.

You will fit if

You'd rather own the full chain than hand off at each boundary.

You're comfortable making equipment decisions when timelines are measured in weeks.

You step outside the RF domain when integration demands it.

You want your work on a spacecraft that actually flies.

This is fully on-site in Villeneuve (VD). The telecom subsystem is in the early stage and some decisions will need to be made before all the answers are clear. What makes that worth it: you'll own the communications architecture of a kick stage that reaches high-energy orbit in hours, from first link budget to flight-proven hardware. The team around you ships at a pace that means your choices show up in test campaigns within weeks, not years.