Principal Communications System Test Engineer - Verification and Validation Verified today

The Role

You will serve as technical lead for system integration, test, verification, and validation of CesiumAstro's communication systems. You own the test strategy from early development through qualification and acceptance, remain actively involved in laboratory bring-up, test execution, troubleshooting, and performance characterization, and coordinate across multidisciplinary engineering teams to demonstrate that systems meet performance requirements and support mission operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead communication system integration and test. Define and execute test strategies across components, subsystems, phased-array payloads, and end-to-end communication links, including interfaces with ground systems.
• Develop verification and validation plans. Translate system requirements and mission concepts of operations into testable acceptance criteria, test cases, and operational scenarios. Maintain traceability between requirements, test procedures, results, and verification closure.
• Own hands-on system bring-up and troubleshooting. Integrate RF hardware, antennas, digital processing, FPGA firmware, software, modems, and data interfaces. Diagnose and resolve issues that affect system functionality, interoperability, and performance.
• Develop automated test capabilities. Create and maintain test scripts, software, procedures, and data-analysis tools to support repeatable characterization, regression testing, qualification, and acceptance testing.
• Characterize RF and communication-link performance. Measure and analyze transmit power, receiver sensitivity, gain, noise figure, linearity, modulation quality, spectral performance, and bit/packet error rates. Compare measured results with link budgets, gain lineups, cascade analyses, and system models.
• Verify phased-array performance. Develop and execute conducted and over-the-air tests to evaluate beam steering, beam-pointing accuracy, radiation patterns, sidelobes, polarization, and performance across frequency, scan angle, and operating conditions.
• Validate modem and data-layer operation. Test configurations, interoperability, synchronization, throughput, latency, and error recovery under nominal, degraded, and boundary conditions.
• Develop representative test environments. Define and configure laboratory test benches, hardware-in-the-loop setups, and channel-emulation capabilities to evaluate system behavior under mission-representative conditions, including attenuation, propagation delay, Doppler, and interference.
• Lead failure analysis and corrective-action verification. Investigate anomalies, isolate root causes across hardware and software interfaces, document findings, and verify corrective actions through targeted testing and regression coverage.
• Support environmental qualification and acceptance. Coordinate communication-system testing with environmental and electromagnetic compatibility teams, and assess functionality and performance before, during, and after testing, as applicable.
• Lead test readiness and results reviews. Establish entry and exit criteria, assess test coverage and data quality, document limitations and residual risks, and produce technical reports that support system acceptance and readiness decisions.

Requirements

You must have a strong background in space communications, systems engineering, and hands-on RF and digital communication system testing. You will communicate effectively with team members and internal stakeholders, both verbally and through written content.

Clearance and Eligibility

To conform with United States Government Space Technology Export Regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., conditional resident, asylee or refugee (protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.