Spacecraft RF Engineer

Motive Workforce Solutions; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Motive Workforce, partnering with a Los Angeles-based spacecraft technology company, seeks an experienced Spacecraft RF Engineer to lead system-level design, evaluation, PCB layout, testing, and integration of RF subsystems for flight programs.

The role includes EMI/EMC compliance, magnetic cleanliness, and magnetics requirements for magnetically sensitive payloads, with responsibilities spanning design, testing, and regulatory documentation.

Qualifications

• Experience with spacecraft RF systems and verification testing.
• Knowledge of EMI/EMC standards and magnetics requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead RF system architecture design, link budget analyses, and integration of spacecraft communications subsystems.
• Design and route custom PCBs interfacing with spacecraft subsystems.
• Perform spacecraft-level EMI/EMC analysis and testing.
• Lead magnetic cleanliness efforts, including dipole modeling and magnetic survey testing of flight hardware.
• Support FCC and NTIA regulatory compliance.
• Document designs, analyses, testing procedures, and results.
• Provide guidance on RF test configurations, grounding and integration activities.

Skills

RF architecture design

Link budget analyses

PCB layout routing

EMI/EMC analysis

Magnetic cleanliness

Regulatory compliance (FCC/NTIA)

Job description

Motive Workforce is partnering with a Los Angeles-based spacecraft technology company developing custom spacecraft and mission solutions for national science and security applications.We are seeking an experienced Spacecraft RF Engineer to join the flight program team. This role will lead the system-level design, evaluation, PCB layout, testing, and integration of spacecraft radio frequency systems. The engineer will also support EMI/EMC compliance, magnetic cleanliness, and magnetics requirements for spacecraft carrying magnetically sensitive payloads.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead RF system architecture design, link budget analyses, and integration of spacecraft communications subsystems.
• Design and route custom printed circuit boards interfacing with spacecraft subsystems.
• Perform spacecraft-level Electromagnetic Interference and Compatibility (EMI/EMC) analysis and testing.
• Lead magnetic cleanliness efforts, including dipole modeling, stray field budgeting, and hands-on magnetic survey testing of flight hardware.
• Support FCC and NTIA regulatory compliance.
• Document designs, analyses, testing procedures, and results.
• Provide technical guidance on RF test configurations, grounding, and related integration activities.