Principal RF Engineer, Space Systems — Equity & Growth

Rocket Lab USA; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 173,000 - 231,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock grant

Stock Purchase Program

Medical plans

Paid time off

Job summary

Rocket Lab, based at our Long Beach, CA headquarters, seeks a Principal RF Engineer to lead the development of RF products and phased arrays for space systems. You will model antenna performance, drive architecture decisions, and mentor a cross‑functional team in a fast-paced environment.

You’ll apply fundamental RF knowledge to link budgets, simulate arrays, and assess interference while transitioning designs from prototype to production, delivering space‑worthy systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering; 8+ years RF experience.
• Fundamental RF knowledge including link budget analysis and linearity.
• Experience modeling and simulating antenna/ phased array performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end RF product development from architecture through production.
• Model and simulate array performance to guide design choices.
• Collaborate with RF, digital, power, mechanical, thermal, and structural engineers.
• Transition developments from prototype to production and interface with vendors/customers.
• Develop test plans for active antennas including EIRP & G/T; support product documentation.

Skills

RF knowledge

Link budget

Phased array modeling

Interference analysis

RF system development

Mentoring

Space-grade design

Education

Bachelors in Electrical Engineering

Job description

Rocket Lab, based at our Long Beach, CA headquarters, seeks a Principal RF Engineer to lead the development of RF products and phased arrays for space systems. You will model antenna performance, drive architecture decisions, and mentor a cross‑functional team in a fast-paced environment.

You’ll apply fundamental RF knowledge to link budgets, simulate arrays, and assess interference while transitioning designs from prototype to production, delivering space‑worthy systems.