Senior RF Systems Engineer (Ground Systems)

Location: Los Angeles, California, United States. On-site.

Estimated base salary: $150,000–$180,000 per year, plus equity.

Company

hirify.global develops RF products and services for demanding space and defense missions, including flexible platforms for deploying, monitoring, and scaling advanced radio technologies.

What you will do

• Define top-level RF system requirements for ground terminals, including antenna interfaces, frequency conversion chains, RF front ends, and signal processing.
• Own end-to-end terminal RF performance across LEO, MEO, GEO, and defense mission scenarios, including G/T, noise temperature, EIRP, link margin, and noise figure.
• Select and manage RF front-end component BOMs, including LNAs, SSPAs, feeds, diplexers, cables, connectors, and waveguide hardware, from specification through procurement.
• Troubleshoot receive and transmit chains, integrate modem hardware, and validate waveform performance.
• Coordinate with antenna and mechanical engineering teams on pointing accuracy, feed alignment, and aperture performance.
• Plan and execute acceptance testing with VNAs, spectrum analyzers, noise figure analyzers, and power meters; produce test procedures, characterization reports, and performance documentation.

Requirements

• 5+ years designing and deploying RF systems or communication links, with direct hands-on experience.
• Strong command of G/T, noise temperature, EIRP, noise figure, link budget, and fade margin, with proficiency in VNA, spectrum analyzer, noise figure analyzer, and power meter use.
• Experience owning component BOMs and selecting and sourcing LNAs, SSPAs, filters, diplexers, and waveguide hardware from specification through procurement.
• Proficiency with MATLAB, Python, or similar tools for link budget modeling and RF system analysis.
• Comfort troubleshooting RF systems in field conditions, including rooftops or remote sites with limited resources.
• U.S. citizenship, lawful U.S. permanent residency, protected-individual status under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligibility to obtain the required U.S. Department of State authorizations is required for ITAR compliance.

Nice to have

• Experience developing or commissioning ground terminals for space or defense programs.
• Experience with parabolic dish systems, including feed installation, polarization alignment, and antenna control systems.
• Working knowledge of DVB-S2 or other satellite waveforms and modem-level integration.
• Experience with multi-band or frequency-agile systems, including LO architecture, filtering, rain fade, atmospheric absorption, and scintillation.
• Experience designing microwave-frequency RF lineups, including gain staging, compression, intermodulation, and harmonic management.
• Familiarity with ground-system EMI/EMC, phased arrays or electronically steered apertures, and ITAR-controlled environments.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on space, civil, commercial, and defense communication missions.
• Collaborate closely with electrical, mechanical, software, and manufacturing engineers.
• Equity is included in the compensation package.
• Equal employment opportunity and accessibility accommodations are provided throughout the hiring process.