Principal Microwave Payload Systems Engineer (Aerospace)

TL;DR

Principal Microwave Payload Systems Engineer (Aerospace): Leading the architecture, development, and delivery of space-based microwave sensing payloads for a satellite constellation with an accent on radiometric performance and RF system design. Focus on translating atmospheric measurement objectives into robust hardware architectures and ensuring mission-ready sensing capabilities.

Location: Golden, Colorado, United States. Restricted to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and protected individuals due to U.S. export control laws.

Salary: $200,000 – $215,000

Company

A leading weather intelligence and climate resilience platform that combines proprietary satellite technology, advanced AI forecasting, and actionable analytics.

What you will do

• Lead architecture definition and technical design of microwave payload systems across the full product lifecycle from concept to on-orbit operations.
• Translate atmospheric sensing objectives into instrument-level requirements, system architectures, and verification strategies.
• Own system-level radiometric performance modeling, including noise temperature, sensitivity, and error budgets.
• Conduct technical trade studies for microwave front-end design, antenna systems, and digital signal processing architectures.
• Guide the integration of receivers, frequency generation, filtering, and data handling subsystems.
• Define calibration strategies and lead the assembly, integration, and testing of microwave hardware.

Requirements

• 10-15+ years of experience developing complex microwave space-based sensing systems.
• Deep expertise in microwave radiometry, RF receiver architectures, and atmospheric sounding instrumentation.
• Strong proficiency in RF system design, including LNAs, frequency conversion chains, and digitization.
• Experience with antenna systems, beam patterns, polarization effects, and scan geometries.
• Proficiency with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) or comparable structured approaches.
• Must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or protected individual.

Culture & Benefits

• Comprehensive health benefits and unlimited paid time off.
• Opportunity to make a measurable global impact on weather resilience and climate innovation.
• Mission-driven environment valuing technical excellence, transparency, and directness.
• Flexible hours and a culture focused on impact and deliveries rather than hours worked.
• Relocation assistance may be available for certain roles.