Engineering Manager, RF Hardware Verified today

CesiumAstro develops communication systems for satellites, UAVs, launch vehicles, and other space and airborne platforms. We are seeking an Engineering Manager, RF Hardware to lead and coordinate RF electronics teams across multiple sites and product lines.

This highly technical leadership role delivers well-engineered RF hardware on schedule across all product lines. You will provide technical ownership for board- and box-level RF designs while leading team execution, staffing, and engineering process maturity in a fast-growing aerospace and defense startup environment.

In addition to people and process leadership, you will contribute hands-on technical expertise to critical designs, architecture reviews, and complex debug activities, ensuring products are scalable, manufacturable, testable, and robust at production volumes.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain technical integrity and engineering excellence for RF electronics development across the company
• Establish, mature, scale, and enforce RF hardware development processes, including analysis and simulation templates, schematic design standards, checklists, and PCB layout best practices
• Lead and participate in rigorous architecture and design reviews, ensuring engagement across digital, RF, power, firmware, and mechanical disciplines
• Apply working knowledge of adjacent disciplines to ensure board- and system-level success
• Contribute directly to board-level RF designs as needed, particularly in high-risk or schedule-critical programs
• Lead or support complex debug efforts involving RF boards
• Ensure RF hardware designs are buildable and testable at scale using DFM and DFT best practices
• Drive disciplined handoff from engineering to manufacturing through close collaboration with manufacturing engineering, supply chain, and production test engineering
• Ensure designs meet quality, reliability, and scalability requirements for aerospace and defense production environments
• Partner with Supply Chain to ensure component availability, lifecycle risk mitigation, and cost awareness
• Drive design reuse, modular architectures, and platform commonality across products
• Build, scale, and lead a high-performing RF hardware engineering team
• Advocate for realistic schedules while holding the team accountable to delivery commitments
• Lead hiring activities, including writing job descriptions, conducting interviews, and making hire/no-hire decisions
• Establish clear development paths and growth opportunities for high-performing engineers
• Address performance issues promptly and constructively
• Actively close skill gaps through hands-on mentorship and training initiatives
• Provide one-on-one coaching, mentoring, and deep technical guidance
• Serve as a key contributor to early-stage engineering execution planning
• Plan and manage budgets related to staffing, lab equipment, capital equipment, and design/simulation software
• Maintain strong working relationships across Engineering, Quality, and Operations

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering required
• Minimum of 7 years of direct board-level RF hardware engineering experience, preferably in aerospace environments
• 1-3 years of small-team technical leadership or engineering management experience preferred but not required
• Demonstrated deep expertise in RF board design, including strong working knowledge of digital and power electronics
• Software-defined radio experience preferred
• Experience supporting design for manufacturability (DFM), design for test (DFT), and transition from development to production
• Proven ability to conduct rigorous technical reviews, mentor engineers, and communicate effectively across disciplines
• Ability to balance architectural rigor with execution speed in a fast-paced development environment
• Proficiency with RF simulation and analysis tools such as Pathwave System Design (SystemVue), RF Synthesis (Genesys), and HFSS
• Deep hands-on experience with schematic capture and PCB layout tools such as Altium
• Strong technical and non-technical communication skills

Full-time employment offers include company stock options and a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability, and retirement plans.

To conform with United States Government Space Technology Export Regulations, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., conditional resident, asylee, or refugee, or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.