Senior RF Manufacturing Engineer – Space Systems (DFX)

Blue Origin

Cupertino (CA)

On-site

USD 145,000 - 203,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical

dental

vision

basic and supplemental life insurance

paid parental leave

short and long‑term disability

401(k) with a company match of up to 5

Education Support Program

Job summary

Blue Origin LLC in California is seeking a Senior Manufacturing RF DFX Engineer to own end-to-end RF assembly design integration for the TeraWave modules, bridging RF/microwave design, antenna feeds, and volume production readiness.

You will drive DFX across design for manufacturability, test, reliability and serviceability at constellation scale, leading RF BOM, vendor coordination, and manufacturing readiness reviews to enable ramp and long-term performance.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, RF/Microwave Engineering, or a related field.
10+ years of RF/microwave design, RF assembly, or RF systems integration in a product development and volume production environment.
Experience designing RF/microwave assemblies with impedance-controlled routing, high-frequency components, and tight performance tolerances; proficiency in Altium, Cadence, ADS, HFSS, or equivalent RF design and simulation tools.
Hands-on experience with RF assembly processes, including connectorization, shielding, calibration, RF test, and line bring-up.
Demonstrated application of DFX principles (DFM/DFT/DFA/DFR) in bringing RF assemblies from design into volume production.
Excellent technical documentation and communication skills.

Responsibilities

RF Assembly Design, Integration & Manufacturing Lead RF/microwave assembly design for satellite communication modules and subsystems: RF front-ends, transceivers, filters, amplifiers, antenna feeds, waveguides, and mechanical integration of RF hardware.
Own RF assembly process development — including impedance-controlled routing, shielding, connectorization, calibration procedures, and integration workflows — to ensure robust, repeatable assembly.
Manage RF BOM procurement, vendor coordination, RF performance and tolerance analysis, and assembly oversight.
Drive first-article inspection, RF performance validation, process validation, and manufacturing readiness reviews to support production ramp.
Design for Excellence (DFX) Drive Design for Excellence (DFX) principles — DFM, DFT, DFA, DFR, and DFS — across the full RF assembly lifecycle to ensure hardware scales from prototype through volume production for TeraWave operations.
Design for Manufacturability (DFM): Optimize RF board stackups, transmission line geometry, material selection, shielding, and assembly processes to maximize yield and minimize cost at constellation-scale production volumes.
Design for Test (DFT): Architect RF test structures, calibration references, test points, and automated RF test coverage to enable efficient factory acceptance and in-field diagnostics.
Design for Assembly (DFA): Simplify connector selection, shielding integration, component placement, and mechanical integration to reduce assembly time, rework, and error rates on the line.
Design for Reliability (DFR): Apply derating, worst-case circuit analysis, FMEA, thermal-mechanical and vibration analysis, and reliability prediction to ensure stable RF performance and long-duration operation in the orbital environment.
Design for Serviceability/Supply Chain (DFS): Coordinate with supply chain and manufacturing partners to drive component standardization, second-sourcing strategies, and obsolescence mitigation across the production lifecycle.
Partner with manufacturing, quality, and supply chain teams to define acceptance criteria, drive yield optimization, and support production ramp for sustained TeraWave operations.