Microwave Instrument Engineer

Muon Space; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 184,000 - 234,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grant

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401k retirement plan

3 weeks paid vacation

12 paid holidays

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Muon Space is seeking a Microwave Instrument Systems Engineer to develop microwave instruments for our satellite fleet. You will adapt existing instrument implementations to Muon hardware and scale production; deep microwave instrumentation design and calibration experience is essential.

This hybrid San Jose role requires on-site work three days per week and offers a competitive salary with equity and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s degree in relevant field plus 3+ years of professional experience, OR substantial hands-on microwave instrumentation experience.
• Background in DSP implementation for microwave instruments.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and coordination skills.
• Excited to work in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Build world class instruments: build and fly cutting edge microwave instruments
• Own the instrument: understand, design, and refine core components of the systems
• Design for scale: make existing solutions and techniques affordable to build in volume
• Collaboration and learning: work with our partners to enhance Muon’s internal skills

Skills

DSP implementation

Instrument design

Calibration experience

Communication skills

Education

PhD or Master’s degree in relevant field

Tools

Python

AWS

Job description

About the role

Muon seeks a Microwave Instrument Systems Engineer to support the development of new microwave instruments for Muon’s growing satellite fleet. This is a foundational position on a new team where you will be responsible for the development of microwave instruments for remote sensing applications. A key element of this role will be taking existing instrument implementations and making them compatible with Muon hardware and effective to produce at scale. Prior experience and a deep understanding of microwave instrumentation design and calibration is critical, and experience in microwave sounding of the atmosphere and earth-surface imaging is ideal.

San Jose Location: This position is hybrid and requires working on-site in our San Jose, CA office three days per week.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities (target should be between 6-10 bullet points)

• Build world class instruments: build and fly cutting edge microwave instruments
• Own the instrument: understand, design, and refine core components of the systems
• Design for scale: make existing solutions and techniques affordable to build in volume
• Collaboration and learning: work with our partners to enhance Muon’s internal skills

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s degree in relevant field plus 3+ years of professional experience, OR several years of experience hands-on with microwave instrumentation
• Background in DSP implementation for microwave instruments
• Experience with ground-based and/or on-orbit calibration of microwave instrumentsExcellent communication, presentation, and coordination skills
• Excited to work in a fast-paced environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with designing/testing of microwave frontend and antenna/reflector hardware
• Background in sounding of the atmosphere and/or imaging of Earth surfaces
• Experience with common programming environments (Python) cloud services (AWS)

Salary

The salary range for this role is $184,000 - $234,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.

About Muon Space

Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.

Taking Care of Our Team

At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave.

ITAR/EAR Requirements

This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.