Senior Space RF & TT&C Lead

Blue Origin LLC; Littleton (CO); On-site; USD 182,000 - 254,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Job summary

Blue Origin LLC seeks a Senior RF Communications Systems Engineer and TT&C Technical Lead to own the architecture, design, development, integration, verification, and operation of the spacecraft TT&C subsystem. You will translate mission requirements into subsystem requirements and lead the RF team to deliver a scalable TT&C solution from concept through on‑orbit operations for a large constellation.

You will collaborate with spacecraft systems, avionics, GNC, flight software, power, thermal,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, RF/Microwave Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of professional experience in RF communications systems engineering, RF/microwave engineering, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading or owning the architecture of RF communications or TT&C systems.
• Demonstrated experience developing end‑to‑end RF communications architectures and link budgets.
• Experience defining, allocating, and verifying system and subsystem requirements.
• Strong experience with RF/microwave systems, including antennas, transmitters, receivers, amplifiers, filters, frequency conversion, and analog signal chains.
• Strong understanding of antennas, RF propagation, microwave engineering, and communications systems.
• Experience with RF simulation and analysis tools such as Keysight ADS, AWR Microwave Office, or similar.
• Experience with RF test equipment, including VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, and power meters.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑functional technical teams and make system‑level engineering decisions.
• Excellent technical communication and documentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead the TT&C subsystem architecture, including RF communications, antennas, transceivers, amplifiers, filters, frequency conversion, interfaces, and ground-system connectivity.
• Define the end-to-end TT&C communications architecture based on mission requirements, spacecraft operational concepts, link availability, data rates, coverage, reliability, Swap‑C, and risk.
• Lead development and allocation of TT&C subsystem requirements, including performance, interface, environmental, reliability, and verification requirements.
• Develop TT&C CONOPS and communication scenarios, including command, telemetry, tracking, acquisition, safe modes, nominal operations, contingencies, and ground‑station interactions.
• Lead RF communications architecture and technology trade studies, evaluating alternative architectures and technologies against mission requirements and system‑level constraints.
• Lead end-to-end RF link budget and communications performance analysis, including transmit power, antenna gain, path loss, atmospheric losses, noise temperature, receiver sensitivity, link margin, data rate, and availability.
• Lead RF cascade analysis, including gain, noise figure, dynamic range, compression, phase noise, spurious performance, and intermodulation products.
• Define and manage RF and TT&C interfaces with the spacecraft bus, avionics, flight software, GNC, power, thermal, and ground systems.
• Lead and mentor the RF communications engineering team, establishing technical direction, priorities, development plans, and engineering processes.
• Provide technical direction for the design and development of RF/microwave hardware, including amplifiers, filters, frequency converters, receivers, transmitters.
• Review and approve RF designs, analyses, simulations, test plans, and verification results.
• Lead the development and execution of TT&C integration and verification plans, including component, subsystem, spacecraft‑level, and end‑to‑end testing.
• Support spacecraft integration, test, troubleshooting, launch readiness, commissioning, and on‑orbit TT&C operations.
• Lead resolution of complex RF and communications system issues and coordinate technical decisions across engineering disciplines.
• Establish and maintain TT&C architecture documentation, requirements, interface control documents, link budgets, CONOPS, trade studies, test plans, and verification matrices.
• Identify technical risks and develop mitigation strategies throughout the TT&C development lifecycle.
• Work with program and systems engineering leadership to establish team staffing, technical capabilities, and resource requirements for the RF/TT&C organization.
• Mentor engineers and develop the technical capabilities of the RF communications team.

Skills

RF Communications

TT&C Architecture

Systems Engineering

Requirements Allocation

Technical Leadership

RF/Microwave

Link Budget

RF Testing

Cross‑Functional Leadership

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Keysight ADS

AWR Microwave Office

VNAs

Spectrum Analyzers

MATLAB

Python

Job description

Blue Origin LLC seeks a Senior RF Communications Systems Engineer and TT&C Technical Lead to own the architecture, design, development, integration, verification, and operation of the spacecraft TT&C subsystem. You will translate mission requirements into subsystem requirements and lead the RF team to deliver a scalable TT&C solution from concept through on‑orbit operations for a large constellation.

You will collaborate with spacecraft systems, avionics, GNC, flight software, power, thermal,