Spacecraft RF Engineer — Lead RF, EMI/Magnetic Cleanliness

Darwin Recruitment; California; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully paid medical cover (employees)

Dental and vision coverage

401k matching

Job summary

Darwin Recruitment in Los Angeles, CA, is seeking an Spacecraft RF Engineer to own RF architecture, design boards and lead RF testing for space missions. This in-office role requires 5+ years of aerospace hardware experience and the ability to obtain US DoD Top Secret clearance.

You will guide test setups, grounding, and ensure compliance with FCC/NTIA while delivering clean, integrated RF systems for national security and science missions.

Qualifications

• Degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or similar.
• 5+ years of hands-on aerospace hardware experience.
• Strong experience with link budgets and spacecraft communications subsystems.
• Proficient with Altium or KiCad and RF test equipment.
• Experience in clean room, ESD, and RF hardware integration.

Responsibilities

• Lead RF system architecture, link budget analysis and communications subsystem integration.
• Design and route custom PCBs that interface with other spacecraft subsystems.
• Run EMI/EMC analysis and testing across the whole spacecraft.
• Lead magnetic cleanliness, including dipole modelling, stray field budgeting and hands on magnetic survey testing on flight hardware.
• Make sure designs meet FCC and NTIA requirements.
• Document design processes and test results.
• Guide other engineers on test configurations and grounding.

Skills

RF system design

Link budgets

EMI/EMC testing

RF test equipment

Grounding practices

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Aerospace Engineering

Tools

Altium

KiCad

Oscilloscopes

Soldering & rework

Job description

Darwin Recruitment in Los Angeles, CA, is seeking an Spacecraft RF Engineer to own RF architecture, design boards and lead RF testing for space missions. This in-office role requires 5+ years of aerospace hardware experience and the ability to obtain US DoD Top Secret clearance.

You will guide test setups, grounding, and ensure compliance with FCC/NTIA while delivering clean, integrated RF systems for national security and science missions.