Senior RF & Phased Array Engineer – Aerospace

Senior RF & Phased Array Engineer - Aerospace

San Francisco Bay Area | On-site | $150,000-$185,000 + Up to $5m in Equity

We’re working with an early-stage aerospace company developing next-generation RF sensing technology for space-based applications.

They’re looking for a Senior RF & Phased Array Engineer to take significant technical ownership of RF systems and hardware, with particular interest in engineers with deep expertise in phased arrays, radar/passive sensing, RF systems or software-defined radio (SDR).

Space experience is not required. Relevant backgrounds could include aerospace, drones/UAVs, aircraft, radar, electronic warfare, SIGINT, terrestrial sensing, wireless systems or advanced RF research.

The Role

This is a highly hands-on position within a small engineering team. You’ll work on complex RF problems from early architecture and trade studies through design, prototyping, integration, bring-up and test.

The team is particularly interested in engineers who can operate independently: taking an ambiguous technical problem, defining an approach and getting hardware working without needing a large support structure around them.

Depending on your background, your work could include:

• Design and development of phased-array and electronically steered antenna systems
• Beamforming, beam steering, calibration and phase/amplitude control
• RF system architecture, analysis and trade studies
• Development of high-sensitivity RF receiver and sensing systems
• Radar, passive RF sensing, direction finding and signal detection
• RF front-end design including LNAs, PAs, mixers, filters, switches and synthesizers/PLLs
• Frequency planning, gain/noise/linearity analysis and link budgets
• RF and microwave PCB design, component selection and schematic development
• Integration of antennas, RF electronics, ADC/DACs, FPGAs and RFSoCs
• SDR and digital RF systems
• Prototype bring-up, troubleshooting and characterization
• Hands-on testing using VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators and oscilloscopes
• Working closely with electrical, digital, mechanical, software and systems engineers to take hardware toward flight

What We’re Looking For

You do not need to be an expert in every area above.

We’re particularly interested in engineers who bring significant depth in at least one of the following:

• Phased arrays / electronically steered antennas
• RF hardware and receiver design

You’ll ideally have strong fundamentals in RF, microwave or antenna engineering, alongside experience developing and testing real RF hardware rather than solely simulation or analysis.

We’re looking for someone who has taken technical work from an early concept through prototype and laboratory validation, has strong RF test and troubleshooting capability, and can independently own technically challenging problems.

Experience with AESA/phased arrays, radar, EW/SIGINT, passive sensing, satellite communications, RFSoCs or advanced antenna systems would be particularly valuable.

Aerospace or spaceflight hardware experience is beneficial, but not essential.

Who Could Be a Good Fit?

We’re deliberately looking beyond traditional satellite RF engineers.

You could currently be developing phased arrays for radar, RF systems for a UAV, passive sensing hardware for an aircraft, an SDR-based receiver, EW/SIGINT equipment or advanced antenna systems.

You could also come from a strong research background. Engineers with an advanced Master’s or PhD in RF, electromagnetics, antennas or radar and substantial hands‑on hardware and laboratory experience are encouraged to apply.

What matters most is genuine technical depth, strong hands‑on capability and the ability to turn difficult RF problems into working hardware.

Why Join?

This is an opportunity to join a well-funded aerospace startup at an early stage and have a direct influence on the architecture and hardware that ultimately flies.

Rather than owning one narrow component within an established engineering organization, you’ll have the opportunity to solve difficult RF problems, build new capability from the ground up and help shape the RF function as the company grows.

Base salary: $150,000-$185,000 + Up to $5m in Equity

If you’ve built sophisticated phased-array, radar, sensing, SDR or RF hardware and want significantly more technical ownership over what gets built next, we’d be keen to hear from you.

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