RF Spacecraft Communications Engineer

Industrious Ventures; Burlingame (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Xona seeks an RF Electrical Engineer to own the satellite S-Band radio end-to-end, from schematic capture to flight testing. You will collaborate with electrical, systems, mechanical, and software teams to deliver a critical spacecraft subsystem that operates in harsh environments.

The role emphasizes RF design, link budgets, EMI/EMC, and hands-on lab bring‑up with flight testing, using HFSS/ADS/MATLAB and a strong emphasis on robust spaceflight engineering.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering or related field; M.S. a plus.
• Hands‑on RF/electrical engineering with PCB RF layout.
• Experience with RF tools HFSS/ADS/MATLAB.
• Familiar with EMI/EMC standards MIL-STD-461.
• Experience with digital interfaces UART/SPI/I2C/Ethernet.
• Lab experience: oscilloscopes, network analyzers, signal generators.

Responsibilities

• End-to-end design of the satellite’s S-Band radio - schematic capture, PCB layout, and component selection, in close coordination with antenna design engineers
• Spacecraft radio link budgets across all mission phases
• EMI/EMC compliance and spaceflight reliability across the design
• Electrical and RF test/validation at unit, subsystem, and system level
• Hardware bring-up, debugging, and performance tuning in lab and flight environments

Skills

RF design

PCB RF layout

RF test & validation

S-Band knowledge

UART/SPI/I2C/Ethernet

Lab measurement tools

Documentation

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor of Science in EE

MS in EE (preferred)

Tools

HFSS

ADS

MATLAB

Job description

Xona seeks an RF Electrical Engineer to own the satellite S-Band radio end-to-end, from schematic capture to flight testing. You will collaborate with electrical, systems, mechanical, and software teams to deliver a critical spacecraft subsystem that operates in harsh environments.

The role emphasizes RF design, link budgets, EMI/EMC, and hands-on lab bring‑up with flight testing, using HFSS/ADS/MATLAB and a strong emphasis on robust spaceflight engineering.