Satcom Payload Architect (SATCOM)

Location: Hybrid, based in the UK or Spain; legal right to work in the selected location required

Company

hirify.global provides end-to-end satellite mission services, from design and manufacturing through launch and operations, including Earth observation, IoT connectivity, and secure communications.

What you will do

• Own the end-to-end technical architecture of next-generation satellite communication payloads for flexible and scalable LEO constellations.
• Translate throughput, latency, and availability requirements into verifiable technical specifications across payload subsystems.
• Define architectures for beamforming antennas, RF front ends, digitally regenerative processors, and optical or mmWave inter-satellite links.
• Perform microwave link budgets and cascade analysis under worst-case operational and thermal conditions.
• Drive SWaP, cost, performance, and risk trade-offs while aligning payload interfaces with satellite bus teams.
• Develop payload CONOPS covering autonomous modes, reconfiguration, failure detection and recovery, frequency generation, and RFI geolocation.

Requirements

• Deep understanding of satellite communication payload architectures, particularly for LEO systems.
• Strong systems engineering experience with requirements definition, flow-down, and verification.
• In-depth knowledge of RF and microwave systems, including link budgets, noise figure, linearity, and cascade effects.
• Experience defining antenna systems, RF front ends, onboard processors, digital payloads, DSP, SDR architectures, and high-speed data conversion.
• Familiarity with DVB-S2X, DVB-RCS2, and 3GPP NTN standards.
• Ability to work across hardware and software boundaries and produce clear, structured, verifiable technical documentation.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work environment in the UK or Spain.
• Work on space technology serving customers around the globe.
• Mission-driven work focused on making space more accessible and solving real-world challenges.
• Diverse, ambitious, and supportive team.