Senior Systems Engineer I - RF Mission Solutions

Rocket Lab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Senior RF Mission Architect to own early mission trades and define payload topologies for defense and commercial customers. You will balance link budgets, antenna architectures, and waveform processing while guiding the architecture from concept to proposal and through to flight.

Work with payload, software, and spacecraft teams in a fast-paced environment to shape a technology roadmap, perform System of Systems trade studies, and deliver

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other technical discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in aerospace or defense RF systems.
• Demonstrated track record architecting complex multi-function RF, SAR/radar, or digital communication payloads from concept to proposal win.
• Active TS/SCI security clearance

Responsibilities

• Architect Clean-Sheet Payloads: Run early mission trades, define payload topologies, analog vs digital conversion boundary, waveform processing constraints, or integration of cryptographic requirement for optimal mission profiles.
• Drive Technical Capture: Work directly with customers and our leadership team to frame complex RF trade-offs, write the core technical architecture narratives for key proposals, and defend your design choices.
• Shape the Hardware Roadmap: Use insights from customer mission needs to directly influence our internal R&D, payload prototyping, and technology investments.
• Bridge Concept to Flight: Partner with payload hardware, software, and spacecraft teams to make sure the architectures you pitch are buildable and transition cleanly into flight development.

Skills

RF systems design

Aerospace/defense domain

Clearance TS/SCI

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other technical discipline

Advanced degree in RF/microwave, electromagnetics, radar, or related field

Tools

STK

MATLAB

Python

HFSS

CST

Job description

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, expand humanity’s reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We move fast, build real hardware for meaningful missions, and make the impossible routine. Come shape the future with us.

SPACE SYSTEMS

At Rocket Lab, we’re not just launching rockets — we're building the future of space. Our Space Systems team builds everything from complete spacecraft, precision payloads to the components and subsystems that allow them to thrive in space, like solar panels, flight software, star trackers, optical systems, separation systems, radios, and more.

Our Space Systems team has enabled more than 1,700 missions, ranging from interplanetary exploration, in-space manufacturing to national security and defense initiatives. The team has built spacecraft, payloads, and components for missions to the Moon and Mars, working with partners including NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force. Whether it’s a single high-performance spacecraft, constellation, or the vertically integrated components that help them get to space — our world class Space Systems team is empowering some of the boldest and most ambitious space missions.

SENIOR SYSTEMS ENGINEER I – RF MISSION SOLUTIONS

Based out of Rocket Lab's global headquarters in Long Beach, CA, Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior RF Mission Architect who thrives at the front end of the mission lifecycle. We operate on a work fast, bid fast, build fast cadence. We design and manufacture high-performance payload products that serve as the building blocks for next-generation tactical satcom, space-based sensing, and direct-to-cell constellations.

In this role, you hold primary technical ownership over how our core product line evolves to capture new missions. You will balance link budgets, antenna architectures, digital vs analog components, SWaP-C constraints and then some —while authoring those trades into winning technical concepts for defense and commercial customers.

What You’ll Get To Do

• Architect Clean-Sheet Payloads: Run early mission trades, define payload topologies, analog vs digital conversion boundary, waveform processing constraints, or integration of cryptographic requirement for optimal mission profiles.
• Drive Technical Capture: Work directly with customers and our leadership team to frame complex RF trade-offs, write the core technical architecture narratives for key proposals, and defend your design choices.
• Shape the Hardware Roadmap: Use insights from customer mission needs to directly influence our internal R&D, payload prototyping, and technology investments.
• Bridge Concept to Flight: Partner with payload hardware, software, and spacecraft teams to make sure the architectures you pitch are buildable and transition cleanly into flight development.

You’ll Bring These Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other technical discipline
• 5+ years of experience in aerospace or defense RF systems
• Demonstrated track record architecting complex multi-function RF, SAR/radar, or digital communication payloads from concept to proposal win
• Active TS/SCI security clearance

These Qualifications Would Be Nice To Have

• Advanced degree in RF/microwave, electromagnetics, radar, or related field
• Experience in antennas, arrays, RF front‑end architectures, TR modules, DSP
• Radar techniques (SAR, MTI, STAP), performance modeling
• Advanced waveforms, protected tactical standards, spectrum management
• Digital payload concepts and RF‑compute convergence
• Radiation effects and resilient RF architectures
• Zero trust, Post-quantum Cryptography requirements at hardware level
• Tools: STK, MATLAB, Python, HFSS, CST
• Understanding of spacecraft bus systems and their impact on payloads
• RF-centric mission design and integration experience
• Visionary and technically rigorous
• Comfortable in ambiguity and open‑ended missions
• Resilient against “that can’t be done” thinking
• Collaborative across BD, engineering, executives, suppliers, and partners
• A clear communicator able to explain complex decisions in mission + financial context
• Efficient: strong foundations but always seeking faster, smarter ways to execute
• Entrepreneurial: eager to pursue bold ideas and see them come to life
• Either a seasoned architect ready to influence strategy, or a fast-learning cleared engineer ready to accelerate into mission formulation

This position may require prolonged