Senior Staff RF Design Engineer (RDE)

Northrop Grumman; Manhattan Beach (CA); On-site; USD 177,000 - 265,600; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Overtime eligibility

Discretionary bonus

Long Term Incentives

Health insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Northrop Grumman in Manhattan Beach, CA, seeks a Senior RF Design Engineer (T05) to lead end-to-end design of space-qualified RF hardware for satellite payloads and electronic warfare systems. You will own requirements, architecture, simulation, prototyping and testing with cross-functional teams.

The role requires a strong RF/microwave background, hands-on lab experience, and the ability to obtain U.S. government clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering; 12+ years of relevant experience (10 years with Masters; 8 years with PhD).
• Experience designing, testing, and troubleshooting RF hardware in Aerospace & Defense.
• Strong RF/microwave fundamentals; hands-on with VNAs and Spectrum Analyzers.
• Extensive experience with HFSS, ADS, and Microwave Office.

Responsibilities

• Take technical ownership of RF modules, units, or subsystems (SSPAs, LNAs, converters, phased array antennas).
• Design, model, and simulate RF/microwave circuits and perform EM analyses.
• Derive and manage subsystem requirements; perform link budget and gain/loss analyses.
• Lead space-qualified PCB layouts, components, and packaging design.
• Develop test plans; conduct environmental testing (thermal vacuum, vibration, EMI/EMC).
• Lead design reviews; mentor junior engineers and coordinate with manufacturing.

Skills

RF design

RF testing

Lab equipment

Cascaded analysis

Gain/linearities

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

12+ years of experience

Tools

HFSS

ADS

Microwave Office

Job description

Relocation Assistance: No relocation assistance available

Clearance Required For Start: No

Clearance Type: None

Travel: Yes, 10% of the Time

Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Please be aware that this position is contingent upon capturing program award(s) and obtaining and maintaining associated business and/or customer funding

Position Summary

We are seeking a Senior RF Design Engineer (T05) to serve as a Responsible Design Engineer (RDE) for advanced, space-qualified radio frequency (RF) hardware. In this technical leadership role, you will own the end-to-end development cycle—from requirements derivation and architecture design to simulation, prototyping, and qualification testing—for satellite payload and ground-based electronic warfare systems. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver high-performance, flight-worthy products.

Key Responsibilities

• Take technical ownership of RF modules, units, or subsystems (e.g., SSPAs, LNAs, Frequency Converters, Phased Array Antennas).
• Perform complex RF/microwave circuit design, EM modeling, and simulation using tools such as Ansys HFSS, ADS, or CST.
• Derive, document, and manage subsystem requirements from system-level mission specifications. Perform link budget, cascade, and gain/loss analyses.
• Lead the development of space-qualified PCB layouts (mixed-signal), component selection, and packaging design.
• Develop test plans, conduct characterization, and perform environmental testing (thermal vacuum, vibration, EMI/EMC) to ensure flight readiness.
• Serve as technical lead during design reviews (PDR, CDR). Mentor junior engineers and collaborate with manufacturing to transition designs to production.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related STEM field and 12 Years of experience, 10 Years with Masters; 8 Years with PhD.
• Demonstrated experience designing, testing, and troubleshooting active or passive RF hardware in the Aerospace & Defense industry.
• Strong proficiency in RF/microwave engineering fundamentals (cascaded analysis, noise figure, linearity, gain) and hands‑on experience with lab equipment (VNAs, Spectrum Analyzers).
• Extensive experience with EDA tools, specifically Ansys HFSS, Keysight ADS, or National Instruments AWR Microwave Office.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance (Secret or higher).

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience designing hardware that has flown on satellites or launch vehicles.
• Experience with phased array antennas, beamforming, and complex, non-planar EM modeling.
• Deep knowledge of MIL-STD-810G, MIL-STD-461, and space environmental testing standards.
• Experience acting as an RDE (Responsible Design Engineer) or IPT (Integrated Product Team) lead, with responsibility for technical schedule and budget.
• Proficiency in Python or MATLAB for test automation and data analysis.

Primary Level Salary Range: $177,000.00 - $265,600.00. The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.