Lead RF Engineer, Reflector Antenna

Logos Space; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Logos Space is building state-of-the-art RF payload hardware and ground antennas, including mechanically gimbaled reflector antennas. You will be the team lead and responsible engineer for the mechanically steered antennas that enable resilient satellite-based connectivity.

This early, high-impact role requires deep RF systems expertise, leadership, and collaboration with antenna, RF, mechanical, thermal, electrical, and manufacturing teams to bring hundreds to thousands of reflectors into space.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or STEM field.
• 5+ years in RF/microwave/antenna design for satellite or similar.
• Strong understanding of reflector antennas, large aperture high gain antennas, and waveguide.
• Knowledge of RF system components (digital, baseband, analog RF/microwave).
• Proven cross-functional collaboration and leadership.
• Experience guiding RF hardware through product lifecycle.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills with leadership potential.

Responsibilities

• Own cradle-to-grave hardware development from trade studies to production readiness.
• Define system requirements for mechanically gimbaled reflector antennas.
• Manage RF hardware cost and schedule.
• Oversee vendors and international travel as needed.
• Guide multi-disciplinary engineering team across design and testing.
• Lead qualification and acceptance tests per MIL-STD-461 and similar.

Skills

RF engineering

Antenna design

Space hardware

Leadership

Vendor management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Master's or PhD in Electrical Engineering

Tools

VNAs

Spectrum analyzers

Signal generators

SDRs

Job description

Logos Space is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite system purpose-built to serve the connectivity needs of the commercial enterprise users and government users. We help fill an important gap in the market, providing resilient, high-performance satellite-based connectivity services to enterprise and government customers worldwide. Business customers have contracts with agreed-upon performance standards for their broadband, and Logos will build these capabilities into the system from the beginning. Speed and reliability are the foundation of the system. Logos is designed to extend cloud and data center network connectivity anywhere in the world to fixed, seaborne, and airborne terminals.

Logos is led by a team of highly experienced engineers with proven track records in the networking and satellite industries, including companies such as Google, SpaceX, and Amazon.

Position Summary

Logos is building state-of-the-art radiofrequency (RF) payload hardware and ground antennas, which include cutting-edge mechanically gimbaled reflector antennas. You will be the team lead, responsible engineer, and extreme owner of mechanically steered antennas that will provide resilient satellite-based connectivity. This is an early, high-impact role that demands technical expertise in RF systems for high gain antennas along with an ability to collaborate effectively in a cross-functional engineering team. At the end of three years, hundreds to thousands of your reflector antennas will be flying in and operating in space.

Responsibilities

• Cradle-to-grave ownership of space hardware: perform trade studies, select and manage vendors, design RF and antenna hardware, perform validation tests, and guide your system through production readiness
• Drive development of system-level requirements for mechanically gimbaled reflector antenna systems
• Manage cost and schedule of RF hardware
• Manage vendors and partners, including domestic and international travel as necessary
• Perform trade studies and define RF system architecture
• Collaborate with, provide technical leadership, and guide a multi-disciplinary team including antenna, RF, mechanical, thermal, electrical, power, digital, modem, manufacturing, test, and supply chain engineers
• Establish and manage qualification and acceptance test campaigns for space environments (vibration, thermal, TVAC, radiation) per standards such as MIL-STD-461 and SMC-S-016

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math)
• 5+ years of industry experience in RF, microwave, and/or antenna engineering for satellite communications or similar applications
• Strong theoretical and practical understanding of reflector antennas, large aperture high gain antennas, and waveguide
• Familiarity with the full RF system including: digital, baseband, analog RF/microwave components (amplifiers, mixers, filters, oscillators, etc.), feed antennas, and reflectors
• Demonstrated experience collaborating in a multi-disciplinary team
• Experience carrying RF hardware through its product life cycle, including requirements definition, design reviews, prototyping, test, and production
• Self-motivated with strong organizational, written, and oral communication skills; we are looking for a leader

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in Electrical Engineering
• Experience with design and over-the-air measurement of mechanically steered high gain antennas
• Experience with orthomode transducers (OMTs), diplexers, polarizers, feed antennas, traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), and other waveguide components
• Experience with high frequency approximation computational electromagnetics tools such as TICRA GRASP
• Experience with RF test & measurement tools such as vector network analyzers (VNAs), spectrum analyzers, signal generators, and software defined radios (SDRs)
• Experience with the full space hardware product life cycle, including requirements definition, design reviews, prototyping, test, and mass production
• Experience designing and testing hardware for space environments or similar per standards such as SMC-S-016 or MIL-STD-461, including considerations for thermal management, vibration, radiation effects, and reliability
• Experience leading cross-functional engineering teams and managing technical projects
• Experience managing subcontractors and suppliers for space hardware
• Familiarity with LEO satellite communications systems and high-throughput payloads
• Familiarity with RF propagation, link budgets, and system-level RF architecture
• Familiarity with RF or millimeter wave analog hardware development at Ku- through V-band frequencies
• Familiarity with CNC machining and additive manufacturing for millimeter wave components

Logos Space Services is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering creativity, curiosity and diverse perspectives among employees. We seek to create an environment where everyone can reach their full potential and drive outstanding results. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal law. This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one's employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits, and termination. Offers will be contingent on the candidate's ability to access export-controlled information under U.S. law.

Compensation Range: $180K - $260K