Senior RF Engineer Long Beach, California

Relativity; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 159,000 - 204,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity options

Generous PTO and sick leave

Parental leave

Annual learning and development stipend

Job summary

A pioneering aerospace company in California seeks an RF Engineer to lead the architecture and development of high-reliability RF systems for deep-space communication. This role requires a bachelor's degree in a relevant field and over 5 years of experience in RF communication design. You'll collaborate across disciplines, solve complex challenges, and work in a hands-on environment that values innovation and teamwork. Competitive salary range of $159,000 - $204,000 and comprehensive benefits offered.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in RF communication system architecture, analysis, and/or component engineering.
• Experience with RF architecture & link budgets for challenging environments.
• Experience communicating deeply technical topics with individuals from different disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture, design, development, testing, and operation of RF systems.
• Solve engineering challenges related to RF technologies for deep-space communication.
• Work hands-on across the full lifecycle from concept to flight readiness.

Skills

RF communication system architecture

Hands-on testing with RF lab equipment

Antenna design and analysis

Communication skills with technical topics

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

Spectrum analyzers

VNAs

SDRs

Job description

Overview

At Relativity Space, we’re building rockets to serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Our Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. But that’s just the start. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyond the known.

Joining Relativity means becoming part of something where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level. Here, you’re not just executing tasks; you’re solving problems that haven’t been solved before, helping develop a rocket, a factory, and a business from the ground up. Whether you’re in propulsion, manufacturing, software, avionics, or a corporate function, you’ll collaborate across teams, shape decisions, and see your work come to life in record time. Relativity is a place where creativity and technical rigor go hand in hand, and your voice will help define the stories we’re writing together. Now is a unique moment in time where it’s early enough to leave your mark on the product, the process, and the culture, but far enough along that Terran R is tangible and picking up momentum. The most meaningful work of your career is waiting. Join us.

About the Team

The Interplanetary Program was established to expand access to scientific exploration across our solar system. Its mission is to make planetary research faster, more affordable, and more capable than ever before by rethinking how science missions are designed, built, and operated. The program aims to enable scientists to send instruments to distant worlds without decades of development or prohibitive costs. By creating a sustainable model for interplanetary exploration, we are transforming space science from an occasional event into a continuous process of discovery that accelerates knowledge, broadens participation, and inspires the next generation of explorers.

About the Role

As an RF Engineer on Relativity’s Interplanetary Program, you will own the architecture, design, development, testing, and operation of next-generation high-reliability RF systems that enable deep-space communication, navigation, and science operations. You will work hands-on across the full lifecycle, from concept and link budgets, to working with ground stations (i.e. DSN, KSAT, etc.) through hardware bring-up, environmental qualification, integrated testing, and flight readiness. This role partners tightly with avionics, optical comms, and spacecraft REs to ensure our RF subsystem integrates cleanly into the overall spacecraft bus. You will be responsible for solving engineering challenges that push the boundaries of RF technologies: designing for extreme distances measuring in AUs, low-SNR environments, radiation effects, and highly constrained mass/power budgets. This is a highly technical, hardware-first role in a scrappy, hands-on environment and team where iteration speed, analytical rigor, and end-to-end ownership of the problem space will be critical to the success of the mission.

About You

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a related field
• 5+ years of experience in RF communication system architecture, analysis, and/or component engineering
• Experience with 3 or more of the following:
  • RF architecture & link budgets for challenging environments
  • Selection, design, and/or integration of RF systems including transmitters, receivers, LNAs, PAs, frequency sources, converters, and front-end architecture
  • Selection and/or design of RF passive components such as filters, diplexers, couplers, and waveguide components
  • Antenna design, analysis, and modeling tools
  • Hands-on testing with RF lab equipment such as spectrum analyzers, VNAs, SDRs, power meters and data recorders
  • Hands-on integrated testing with ground stations and/or integrated spacecraft RF systems to flow live telemetry and commanding
• Experience communicating deeply technical topics with individuals from different disciplines

Nice to have but not required

• Experience with space environments (radiation effects, thermal extremes, vacuum operation, component derating)
• Prior work with deep-space spacecraft comms system design & architecture
• Prior work with deep-space ground station networks
• Experience with high-gain antennas, phased arrays, or gimbaled antenna systems
• Experience designing or validating RF hardware for flight qualification (TVAC, vibe, EMI/EMC)

Compensation and Benefits

At Relativity Space, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation practices. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors. Compensation is only one part of our total rewards package. Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, a generous PTO and sick leave policy, parental leave, an annual learning and development stipend, and more! To see some of the benefits & perks we offer, please visit here.

Hiring Range:

$159,000 - $204,000 USD

Equal Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.