RF Test Engineer (Satellite Navigation)

Location: On-site in Burlingame, California, United States

Salary: $130,000–$150,000 per year plus equity

Company

Develops a commercial low Earth orbit satellite constellation providing precise, secure, and resilient positioning services as an alternative to GPS.

What you will do

• Design, implement, and execute RF test plans for payload transmit/receive chains, telemetry and command links, GNSS receivers, and satellite-bus interconnects.
• Build and maintain test setups using VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters, and custom fixtures.
• Develop automated test scripts and data-capture tools in Python and analyze RF test data to validate performance and characterize margins.
• Troubleshoot RF anomalies at board, subsystem, and system levels.
• Support thermal vacuum, vibration, and EMI/EMC testing with RF instrumentation and monitoring.
• Collaborate with subsystem teams to define test requirements, verification matrices, and mission-aligned test coverage.

Requirements

• B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
• 3+ years of hands-on RF testing experience, preferably in aerospace, defense, or telecommunications.
• Strong knowledge of RF test equipment, link budgets, S-parameters, gain/loss calculations, and impedance matching.
• Proficiency in scripting languages such as Python for test automation and data analysis.
• Experience working in laboratory environments with complex RF systems and flight hardware.
• For the U.S. role, applicants must be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or other protected individuals under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).

Nice to have

• Experience testing RF systems in space environments, including thermal vacuum, EMI/EMC, and vibration testing.
• Familiarity with CCSDS, DVB-S2, S-band, C-band, or L-band communications protocols.
• Understanding of digital signal processing, RF impairments, and GNSS signal acquisition.
• Experience with configuration control and documentation in hardware development environments.

Culture & Benefits

• Hands-on work with flight hardware and real-world satellite systems.
• Fast-paced startup environment with evolving priorities.
• Cross-functional collaboration across hardware, software, and systems teams.
• Equity included in the compensation package.
• Inclusive workplace committed to equal employment opportunity.