Principal RF Space Systems Engineer & Team Lead

HawkEye 360; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

HawkEye 360 is seeking a Principal RF Electrical Engineer and Team Lead to guide the Space Team in designing, building, and testing satellite RF systems and electronics. You will supervise a small team while remaining hands-on with design and verification activities.

The role emphasizes digital, analog, and power electronics, RF front ends, SDRs, and antenna systems, with collaboration across mechanical, software, payload, and systems teams to ensure mission success.

Qualifications

• Strong Electrical and RF engineering expertise.
• Experience leading a small team of RF and Electrical Engineers.
• Cross-functional collaboration with mechanical, software, payload, and systems teams.
• Experience with satellite hardware, PCB design, and RF front-end challenges.

Responsibilities

• Design digital, analog, and power electronics for satellite hardware and oversee schematic capture, PCB layout, RF chain design, and power subsystems.
• Lead PCB design and layout with RF considerations including impedance, grounding, shielding, power distribution, and signal integrity.
• Establish engineering best practices, design standards, and review processes for reliability and consistency across hardware designs.
• Facilitate root-cause analyses and corrective actions, driving data-driven problem solving for flight hardware.
• Manage task planning, delegation, and roadmapping to meet program milestones from concept to flight qualification.
• Collaborate with PCB Contract Manufacturers to ensure quality control and timely delivery of flight hardware.
• Design RF payload architectures and SDR systems for space-based missions.
• Develop test procedures and automation scripts to characterize SDR and RF front-end performance.
• Support spacecraft integration and testing, including EGSE, flatsats, and hardware checkouts.
• Perform first article hardware unit testing, including reception inspection, burn-in, thermal validation, and testing.

Skills

RF Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Team Leadership

PCB Design

Signal Integrity

RF Payloads

Job description

HawkEye 360 is seeking a Principal RF Electrical Engineer and Team Lead to guide the Space Team in designing, building, and testing satellite RF systems and electronics. You will supervise a small team while remaining hands-on with design and verification activities.

The role emphasizes digital, analog, and power electronics, RF front ends, SDRs, and antenna systems, with collaboration across mechanical, software, payload, and systems teams to ensure mission success.