Senior RF Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: Long Beach, California, United States

Salary: $159,000–$204,000 USD per year

Company

hirify.global develops launch vehicles and space systems, including the Terran R rocket and interplanetary exploration technologies.

What you will do

• Own the architecture, design, development, testing, and operation of high-reliability RF systems for deep-space communication, navigation, and science operations.
• Develop RF concepts and link budgets for challenging deep-space environments.
• Work with ground stations such as DSN and KSAT through hardware bring-up, environmental qualification, integrated testing, and flight readiness.
• Select, design, and integrate transmitters, receivers, LNAs, power amplifiers, frequency sources, converters, filters, diplexers, couplers, and waveguide components.
• Integrate the RF subsystem with avionics, optical communications, and spacecraft systems engineering teams.
• Conduct hands-on RF laboratory and integrated spacecraft testing, including live telemetry and commanding.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in RF communication system architecture, analysis, and/or component engineering.
• Experience with at least three relevant areas, including RF architecture and link budgets, RF system selection or design, passive RF components, antenna design and modeling, RF laboratory equipment, or integrated ground-station and spacecraft RF testing.
• Hands-on experience with equipment such as spectrum analyzers, VNAs, SDRs, power meters, and data recorders.
• Ability to communicate deeply technical topics across different engineering disciplines.

Nice to have

• Experience with radiation effects, thermal extremes, vacuum operation, or component derating.
• Deep-space spacecraft communications architecture or deep-space ground station network experience.
• Experience with high-gain antennas, phased arrays, or gimbaled antenna systems.
• Experience designing or validating RF hardware for flight qualification, including TVAC, vibration, and EMI/EMC testing.

Culture & Benefits

• Hands-on, hardware-first work in a technically rigorous and fast-iterating environment.
• Cross-functional collaboration across avionics, optical communications, and spacecraft systems engineering.
• Competitive salary and equity.
• Generous PTO and sick leave, parental leave, and an annual learning and development stipend.