Senior RF Payload Engineer

IC Resources; Guildford; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

IC Resources' client in Guildford is seeking a Senior RF Payload Engineer to develop satellite payloads for communications, radar and SIGINT, spanning system design to hardware integration and in-orbit commissioning.

You will define payload architectures, analyse performance, specify transmitters, receivers, antennas and signal processing, and collaborate with hardware teams and suppliers to deliver reliable payloads.

Qualifications

• RF experience including systems engineering and requirements flow-down.
• Experience across link budgets, RF or digital design, signal processing, antenna design and payload verification.
• Familiarity with MATLAB or Python for modelling.
• Engineering, maths or physics degree with the confidence to own technical decisions.
• Space hardware manufacture and test experience would be useful.

Responsibilities

• Define payload architectures and analyse performance.
• Specify transmitters, receivers, antennas and signal processing.
• Work with hardware specialists and external suppliers to turn requirements into payloads.
• Develop design, test and calibration tools and support environmental testing and commissioning.
• Take responsibility for technical delivery, schedules and budgets.

Skills

Systems engineering

RF design

Signal processing

Education

Engineering/Physics degree

Tools

MATLAB

Python

Job description

Our client, a space engineering company in Guildford, Surrey, is looking for a Senior RF Payload Engineer to develop satellite payloads for communications, radar and signal intelligence applications. The work spans system design through to hardware integration, verification and in-orbit commissioning.

As a Senior RF Payload Engineer, you’ll define payload architectures, analyse performance and specify transmitters, receivers, antennas and associated signal processing. Working with hardware specialists and external suppliers, you’ll help turn requirements into working payloads.

You’ll also develop design, test and calibration tools, support environmental testing and commissioning, and take responsibility for technical delivery, schedules and budgets.

What they’re looking for

• Relevant RF experience, including systems engineering and requirements flow-down.
• Experience across some of the following: link budgets, RF or digital design, signal processing, antenna design and payload verification.
• Familiarity with MATLAB or Python for modelling.
• An engineering, maths or physics degree, with the confidence to own technical decisions and work across disciplines.
• Space hardware manufacture and test experience would be useful.

Why consider it?

This Senior RF Payload Engineer position offers responsibility across the full payload lifecycle, with visibility of how your design performs in orbit. It suits someone who enjoys detailed technical work alongside broader system ownership and close collaboration with engineering specialists.