We are looking to add a Senior RF Hardware Engineer to our team. If you are great at what you do, enjoy working in a startup environment, and are passionate about developing leading-edge electronics for satellites, spacecraft, and aerospace systems, we would like to hear from you.
At the Senior II level, you will be tasked with full-stack hardware development for complex modules and small systems. You will have the opportunity to start at concept development and progress through detailed design, analysis, layout, build, test, and delivery, doing hands-on work at each phase. The Senior II level also introduces technical leadership opportunities, gaining responsibility for small teams of hardware engineers developing new products and systems.
At a small company and a startup, your work will make direct contributions to the success of the business. The work is challenging and impactful, requiring both breadth and depth of technical knowledge. Our products are made for high-reliability space and airborne applications, so designs require high levels of technical rigor while maintaining the agility of a startup environment.
The successful candidate will also present engineering design review materials to our customers and executive team. As such, excellent written and verbal communication skills are required.
SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES
- Design and develop RF, mixed-signal, and digital hardware for electronically steered antenna (AESA) communication systems.
- Support the adaptation of existing hardware designs for new customer platforms, operational environments, and regional requirements.
- Develop RF front-end, power distribution, control, and interface circuitry for phased-array communication terminals.
- Own the development of hardware modules and subsystems from requirements through schematic capture, layout, integration, verification, and production release.
- Develop hardware requirements, perform trade studies, and support subsystem architecture development.
- Perform detailed schematic design for complex RF, mixed-signal, and high-speed digital circuit boards.
- Support PCB layout activities in Altium Designer, including stack-up definition, component placement, routing reviews, and design-for-manufacturing considerations.
- Perform engineering analyses including worst-case circuit analysis, signal integrity, power integrity, thermal, and reliability assessments.
- Develop and execute hardware bring-up, integration, debugging, and design verification activities.
- Support RF characterization, system integration, troubleshooting, and root-cause investigations using laboratory test equipment.
- Define and execute environmental, qualification, and compliance testing activities, including EMI/EMC verification.
- Collaborate closely with all the relevant engineering teams throughout the product lifecycle.
- Support technical design reviews, engineering documentation, requirements traceability, and customer-facing technical activities.
- Contribute to product qualification, certification, manufacturing transfer, and production support activities.
- Provide technical support for field trials, demonstrations, customer evaluations, and deployment activities.
- Mentor junior engineers and technicians while promoting engineering best practices and technical rigor.
- Apply knowledge of adjacent disciplines, including software, systems, RF, and mechanical engineering, to support efficient product development and integration.
JOB REQUIREMENTS AND MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor of Science (BS) degree or higher in Electrical Engineering from an accredited university.
- Minimum of 6 years of relevant experience in board-level electronics design, analysis, and test.
- Direct experience designing high-reliability electronics for space or defense applications, including part derating, worst-case analysis, and thermal constraints.
- Experience owning the design phase of complex board-level electronics, including trade studies, key part selection, and detailed design.
- Experience delivering hardware designs through production and deployment.
- Expertise in PCB layout, including high-density interconnect (HDI) stackup design and high-speed routing.
- Experience running board-level signal integrity and/or power integrity simulation tools such as Ansys SIwave, ADS SIPro, or Mentor Hyperlynx.
- Strong working knowledge of adjacent fields, such as software and mechanical, that guides hardware design and system design
- Expert-level proficiency in electronics design tools such as Altium.
- Extensive lab experience for bring-up and verification of new hardware.
- Excellent written and spoken communication skills.
WHAT WE OFFER
- Experience leading small teams of hardware engineers to develop multi-module assemblies, including hardware architecture, requirements, make/buy decisions, and interconnects.
- Design for space radiation environments
Skills Required
- Bachelor of Science (BS) degree or higher in Electrical Engineering
- Minimum of 6 years relevant experience in board-level electronics design, analysis, and test
- Direct experience designing high-reliability electronics for space or defense (part derating, worst-case, thermal constraints)
- Experience owning design phase of complex board-level electronics including trade studies and part selection
- Experience delivering hardware designs through production and deployment
- Expertise in PCB layout including HDI stackup design and high-speed routing
- Experience running SI/PI simulation tools such as Ansys SIwave, ADS SIPro, or Mentor Hyperlynx
- Expert-level proficiency in electronics design tools such as Altium
- Extensive lab experience for bring-up, integration, debugging, and verification of new hardware
- Excellent written and spoken communication skills
CesiumAstro Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about CesiumAstro and has not been reviewed or approved by CesiumAstro.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage includes medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, plus FSAs and mental health benefits. Feedback suggests the health package is comprehensive for a growth-stage aerospace firm.
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Retirement Support — Offerings include a 401(k) with company matching and other retirement-plan elements. Feedback suggests core retirement mechanisms are in place alongside standard financial benefits.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, paid holidays, paid sick days, and bereavement leave are included. Feedback suggests time-off options are broad on paper across multiple leave types.
CesiumAstro Insights
What We Do
We build high-throughput, plug-and-play phased array communication payloads for space and airborne platforms. CesiumAstro’s full-stack, multi-mission hardware and software products enable a diverse range of commercial and defense objectives. Full-system engineering design is at the heart of every CesiumAstro product. We deliver high-performance solutions under rapid development timelines.
Why Work With Us
At CesiumAstro, we’re a team. We’re passionate, respectful, and determined colleagues ready to help at a moment’s notice. We’re mentors excited to enable our peers with the knowledge they need to succeed. Together, we’re visionaries committing to building memories that will last a lifetime.
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