Lead RF & Antenna Systems Engineer

Northwood Space; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwood Space is seeking a Lead Hardware Development Engineer to steer the antenna system from concept to deployment. You will integrate mechanical, RF, electrical, embedded software, and thermal disciplines to deliver robust satellite communication hardware.

You will organize teams, define requirements, and drive schedules, milestones, and risk mitigation. The role demands hands-on design, testing, and cross-functional leadership in a fast-growing space tech company.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant engineering field.
• 3–5+ years developing complex hardware, antenna systems, or multidisciplinary tech.
• Experience owning a hardware product from design through delivery.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage interfaces.
• Hands-on experience building and testing physical hardware systems.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical development and execution of a Northwood antenna system or major subsystem from concept through production and deployment.
• Translate product, customer, and mission needs into system requirements, architectures, interfaces, performance budgets, and verification plans.
• Coordinate development across mechanical, electrical, RF, antenna, embedded software, thermal, manufacturing, test, supply chain, and field operations.
• Build and manage development schedules, technical milestones, critical-path dependencies, and risk-mitigation plans.
• Lead system-level trade studies across antenna performance, structural design, power, thermal behavior, reliability, manufacturability, cost, and deployment speed.
• Drive prototype builds, system integration, test campaigns, root-cause investigations, and production-readiness reviews.
• Contribute directly to design, analysis, prototyping, testing, and troubleshooting within your primary engineering discipline.
• Provide clear updates to engineering leadership on progress, risks, decisions, and resource needs.

Skills

Mechanical design

Electrical hardware

RF hardware

Embedded systems

Systems engineering

Project leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, RF, or Systems Engineering

Tools

CAD (SolidWorks/Creo)

MATLAB/Simulink

Job description

Northwood Space is seeking a Lead Hardware Development Engineer to steer the antenna system from concept to deployment. You will integrate mechanical, RF, electrical, embedded software, and thermal disciplines to deliver robust satellite communication hardware.

You will organize teams, define requirements, and drive schedules, milestones, and risk mitigation. The role demands hands-on design, testing, and cross-functional leadership in a fast-growing space tech company.