Principal RF Systems Engineer – Satellite Communications

Calder Search; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 255,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive equity package

Job summary

Calder Search seeks a Principal RF Systems Engineer in Mountain View, CA. This hybrid role combines hands-on RF system ownership with shaping a new capability, leading design from ground up and owning system architecture through build, integration and test.

You’ll work on end-to-end RF payload architecture, antenna design, and satellite link design, partnering with an international engineering team to deliver a commercially deployed satellite communications solution with equity as part of the

Qualifications

• 8+ years in RF, wireless or satellite communications engineering
• Strong RF systems and antenna design fundamentals
• Experience taking hardware from requirements through build, validation and test
• Exposure to phased-array / electronically steered antennas, beamforming and OTA testing
• Experience delivering RF technology into commercial products or programmes such as satellite communications, IoT, wireless devices, chipsets, wearables or mobile networks

Responsibilities

• End-to-end RF payload architecture including antenna systems, RF front ends, frequency planning and waveform selection
• Phased-array / electronically steered antenna design and analysis, beamforming, scan performance and coverage
• Satellite link design including link budgets, modulation and coding, Doppler and interference analysis
• RF integration, performance verification, over-the-air testing and environmental qualification
• Make technical decisions at the intersection of satellite communications and cellular standards (4G LTE, 5G NR, 3GPP NTN) and define the initial roadmap for the new capability

Job description

Principal RF Systems Engineer – Satellite Communications

Mountain View, CA | Hybrid, 2–3 days onsite

$255,000–$270,000 base + equity

We’re working with a commercially established satellite communications company building technology that extends cellular connectivity beyond traditional terrestrial networks.

They’re now hiring a Principal RF Systems Engineer to become the first technical hire in a newly formed group, taking ownership of a new RF communications payload capability from the ground up.

This is a hands‑on senior IC role.

You won’t be inheriting somebody else’s finished architecture or moving into a people‑management position. You’ll help define the technical roadmap, own the RF architecture, and remain close enough to the engineering to take it through design, build, integration, validation and test.

What you’ll own

• End‑to‑end RF payload architecture, including antenna systems, RF front ends, frequency planning and waveform selection
• Phased‑array / electronically steered antenna design and analysis, including beamforming, scan performance, EIRP, G/T and coverage
• Satellite link design including link budgets, modulation and coding, Doppler and interference analysis
• RF integration, performance verification, over‑the‑air testing and environmental qualification
• Technical decisions at the intersection of satellite communications and cellular standards, including 4G LTE, 5G NR and 3GPP NTN
• The initial technical roadmap for a new capability that will grow around the architecture you establish

What we’re looking for

The critical requirement is design ownership.

We’re looking for someone who has personally taken complex RF or antenna systems through the lifecycle — specifying and designing the system, not simply implementing, integrating or maintaining somebody else’s design.

You’ll likely bring:

• 8+ years in RF, wireless or satellite communications engineering
• Strong RF systems and antenna design fundamentals
• Experience taking hardware from requirements and architecture through build, validation and test
• Exposure to phased‑array / electronically steered antennas, beamforming and OTA testing
• Experience delivering RF technology into commercial products or programmes such as satellite communications, IoT, wireless devices, chipsets, wearables or mobile networks

Commercial product‑development experience is important. Candidates whose backgrounds are primarily theoretical/academic, simulation‑only, RF test, programme management, adaptation of existing systems, or defence/government programmes without commercial product development are unlikely to be the right match.

This is also a senior individual‑contributor position rather than a people‑management role. We’re particularly interested in engineers who have led technically complex 0‑to‑1 programmes while remaining hands‑on.

The opportunity

This isn’t an early research project looking for its first use case.

You’ll be joining a commercially established satellite communications business with deployed technology and an international, engineering‑heavy team, at the point where a new technical capability is being created.

For the right engineer, the attraction is simple: own something from the beginning rather than inherit it later.

Location: Mountain View, California

Base salary: $255,000–$270,000 per year

Equity: Competitive equity package

Visa: Existing visa transfers can be considered; new sponsorship is not available

Candidates must be eligible to obtain a U.S. security clearance should the programme require it. An active clearance is not required to apply.