Senior RF Systems Engineer – Aerospace & Ground Links

Urban-Sky; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 130,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock Options

Medical, Vision and Dental

Unlimited / Felxable Leave Policy

Job summary

Urban Sky is seeking a Senior RF Systems Engineer to own the RF domain across the company – from boards on our vehicles to the ground stations that talk to them. You will shape how SATCOM, GNSS, SDRs, and link budgets coexist and survive in dense, contested environments.

You will lead RF integration, test, and secure networking standards for RF-borne data, while coordinating with hardware, software, and field teams to support high-altitude, aerospace missions from Denver and beyond.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of hands-on RF systems engineering across hardware and system levels
• Deep understanding of RF propagation, link budgets, modulation and coding, and antenna design principles
• Board-level RF experience with spectrum analyzer troubleshooting
• Hands-on test experience with spectrum analyzers, VNAs, signal generators, and antenna measurement
• Experience with software-defined radios and mesh or relay network architectures
• Working knowledge of secure communications (encryption, key management) applied to RF links
• Strong scripting/analysis skills for link modeling and test automation

Responsibilities

• Review and optimize emitting/receiving systems across avionics and devices, including board-level RF review
• Review and optimize antenna selection, design, and placement across the fleet
• Own RF link budgets across mission phases and geometries; validate with hardware-in-the-loop and field testing
• Architect ground station systems and multi-node relay/bent-pipe topologies
• Develop solutions for MIMO architectures, mesh data backhaul, and routing topology
• Harden RF systems for contested environments: jamming resilience, GPS protection, degradation
• Develop secure networking standards for RF-borne data across vehicle, ground, and customer interfaces
• Lead RF integration and interference deconfliction for third-party payloads
• Evaluate RF-sensing partners and payloads
• Support spectrum planning, frequency coordination, and regulatory compliance (FCC, ITU)

Skills

RF systems engineering

RF propagation

Link budgets

Antenna design

Modulation & coding

Board-level RF

Spectrum analyzers

VNAs

Signal generators

Antenna measurement

Software-defined radios

Mesh networks

Secure communications

Scripting

Education

B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering

Communications Engineering

Tools

Spectrum analyzer

Vector Network Analyzer

Signal generator

Antenna measurement equipment

Job description

Urban Sky is seeking a Senior RF Systems Engineer to own the RF domain across the company – from boards on our vehicles to the ground stations that talk to them. You will shape how SATCOM, GNSS, SDRs, and link budgets coexist and survive in dense, contested environments.

You will lead RF integration, test, and secure networking standards for RF-borne data, while coordinating with hardware, software, and field teams to support high-altitude, aerospace missions from Denver and beyond.