RF Antenna Engineer

K2 Space Corporation; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in the company

Comprehensive benefits package

Job summary

K2 Space Corporation is building the largest and highest-power satellites, requiring rigorous RF test and measurement for SDR-based satellite communications. You will help develop RF infrastructure, test antennas, and work with a multidisciplinary team to prototype and refine space-rated RF systems.

In the first years you will contribute to developing cutting-edge RF systems for missions from LEO to deep space, collaborating with antenna, RF, FPGA, DSP, software, mechanical, and electrical

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical, computer, aerospace engineering, or related field.
• 2+ years in microwave, RF, or antenna engineering.
• Experience with RF test equipment such as VNA and spectrum analyzer.
• Experience with anechoic chambers and antenna measurement assets.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead research, design, and procurement of antenna measurement assets such as anechoic chambers and near-field scanners.
• Qualify radiofrequency and antenna hardware through environmental testing including vibration, shock, thermal, and TVAC testing.
• Assist with design and validation testing for radiofrequency and microwave hardware from UHF 200 MHz through Ka band 30 GHz, including phased array antennas, low noise amplifiers, power amplifiers, filters, high speed converters, and other RF electronic components.
• Execute development and production tests to meet internal and external customer needs.
• Collaborate closely with internal and external stakeholders to integrate your designs into the spacecraft system.

Skills

Microwave RF

Antenna engineering

RF test equipment

VNA (Vector Network Analyzer)

Fast-paced work

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering

Tools

Anechoic chambers

Near-field scanners

Ansys HFSS

FEKO

Spectrum analyzer

Job description

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

Role

You will be responsible for the test & measurement of radiofrequency (RF) and microwave electronics to be hosted on some of the largest, most powerful, rapidly designed and rapidly manufactured satellites ever deployed in space. In your first 6 months you will develop the RF test and measurement infrastructure required to integrate and test new RF electronics and antennas for use in software defined radio (SDR) systems for satellite communications and beyond. You will work with a multidisciplinary team of antenna, RF, field programmable gate array (FPGA), digital signal processing (DSP), software, mechanical, and electrical engineers in order to prototype your systems and refine your designs. In your first two years you will have contributed to developing cutting-edge RF systems that will fly in space.

Responsibilities

• Lead research, design, and procurement of antenna measurement assets such as anechoic chambers and near field scanners
• Qualify radiofrequency and antenna hardware through environmental testing including vibration, shock, thermal, and thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing
• Assist with design and validation testing for radiofrequency and microwave hardware from UHF 200 MHz through Ka band 30 GHz, including phased array antennas, low noise amplifiers, power amplifiers, filters, high speed converters, and other RF electronic components
• Execute development and production tests to meet internal and external customer needs
• Collaborate closely with internal and external stakeholders to integrate your designs into the spacecraft system

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer, electrical, aerospace engineering, or other relevant science, technology, or mathematics discipline
• 2+ years of experience in microwave, RF, or antenna engineering
• Experience with RF test equipment such as vector network analyzers (VNA), spectrum analyzer, etc.
• Experience with anechoic chambers and antenna measurement assets such as near field scanners
• Ability to work in a fast-paced and high velocity start-up atmosphere

Nice to Have

• Experience with environmental testing for space electronics such as thermal, vibration, TVAC, radiation, and EMI/EMC testing per standards such as SMC-S-016
• Experience with RF systems testing, including antenna characterization and insertion loss tests
• Experience with antenna and electromagnetic modeling and analysis software tools such as Ansys Electronics Desktop HFSS and Altair FEKO
• Experience with software defined radio hardware development including high speed RF data converters (digital to analog and analog to digital converters), clock trees, and data converter interfaces

Compensation And Benefits

• Base salary range for this role is $110,000 - $170,000 + equity in the company
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

Export Compliance

As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R.

• 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.

Equal Opportunity

K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.