Lead Radar Engineer for Mars Orbiter Instrument

Relativity Space, Inc.; Long Beach (CA); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 263,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity

PTO & sick leave

Parental leave

Learning & development stipend

Job summary

Relativity Space, Inc. seeks a senior technical lead for a wideband UHF radar sounder on a Mars orbiter mission. Own the instrument from design through spacecraft integration, calibration, and commissioning with no mid-stream hand-off, in a hybrid work setting.

You will lead RF, digital, power, and mechanical coordination, defining calibration schemes and supporting spectrum licensing while collaborating with science partners to meet mission objectives.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in electrical hardware development for radio/radar systems or similar equipment.
• Proven ability to develop and manage radar system performance budgets.
• Experience with analysis and modeling of radar returns and performance.
• Experience implementing radio or radar transceivers as software-defined radios.
• Field testing, flight testing, or spaceflight experience with radio or radar transceivers.
• Deep expertise in one or more of: FPGA/GPU DSP signal processing chains, mixed-signal PCBs, RF circuit design, antenna design.

Responsibilities

• Own the system design for radar electronics, signal processing chain, and antenna at the vehicle level for both modes.
• Lead waveform trade studies and co-design with science team to ensure mission objectives.
• Lead hardware development, including prototype development and validation ahead of flight designs.
• Define instrument calibration schemes for radar and radiometer modes.
• Coordinate hardware development across RF, digital, power, and mechanical disciplines; manage firmware/software.
• Lead instrument qualification, spacecraft integration, and test/flight data review.
• Perform spectrum licensing and frequency coordination for operation and testing.

Skills

7+ yrs exp

Radar system budgets

Radar analysis

SDR RF transceivers

FPGA/GPU DSP

RF PCB design

Antenna design

Job description

Relativity Space, Inc. seeks a senior technical lead for a wideband UHF radar sounder on a Mars orbiter mission. Own the instrument from design through spacecraft integration, calibration, and commissioning with no mid-stream hand-off, in a hybrid work setting.

You will lead RF, digital, power, and mechanical coordination, defining calibration schemes and supporting spectrum licensing while collaborating with science partners to meet mission objectives.