Senior Antenna Engineer Verified today

About Inversion Space

Inversion is an aerospace and defense company pioneering advanced reentry technology for next-generation space missions. The company designs and manufactures the Arc reentry spacecraft for rapid global cargo delivery, hypersonic testing, and national security applications. Headquartered in Los Angeles with in-house design, manufacturing, and integration capabilities, Inversion is backed by Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures.

Position Overview

As Senior Antenna Engineer, you will lead the design, analysis, integration, and validation of antenna systems for Inversion's next-generation reentry vehicles. Working within the Avionics team and reporting to the Director of Engineering, Avionics, you will own antenna development from requirements capture and electromagnetic simulation through prototyping, installed performance evaluation, and mission-readiness testing.

You will translate system-level communication and vehicle constraints into robust antenna solutions for one of the most capable maneuverable reentry vehicle platforms in development.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead antenna design, simulation, and placement for flight and ground communication systems
• Capture antenna requirements and perform electromagnetic simulation and analysis to meet system-level performance needs
• Develop antenna concepts and trade studies across gain, bandwidth, efficiency, polarization, impedance matching, size, placement, and environmental constraints
• Model and predict antenna and vehicle-level RF performance using EM simulation tools and installed-performance analysis
• Plan and execute antenna prototyping, tuning, and validation for component-level and integrated system testing
• Perform antenna measurements including impedance, return loss, radiation pattern, gain, efficiency, and polarization using anechoic chamber, near-field, and far-field test methods
• Support integration of antennas with RF front-end hardware, vehicle structures, radomes, thermal systems, and other avionics subsystems
• Evaluate installation effects and recommend mitigation strategies for performance degradation from vehicle geometry, structures, radomes, thermal protection systems, and other constraints
• Partner with RF, electrical, mechanical, thermal, software, and systems engineering teams to ensure successful antenna implementation
• Document requirements, design trades, simulation results, test data, and design recommendations

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related technical field with RF/EM focus
• 5+ years of professional experience in antenna design, EM simulation, and antenna integration
• Strong R&D experience in RF and antenna systems
• Deep knowledge of aperture antennas, impedance matching, Smith chart usage, polarization, bandwidth, and RF front-end interactions
• Proficiency with antenna modeling and electromagnetic simulation tools such as HFSS, CST, FEKO, or similar
• Experience with antenna prototyping methods and fabrication approaches
• Experience with antenna measurement techniques including anechoic chamber, near-field, and far-field testing
• Understanding of antenna integration effects on vehicle or platform performance
• Familiarity with radomes, thermal/mechanical constraints, and embedded or conformal antenna design
• Ability to perform trade studies for gain, bandwidth, efficiency, polarization, and antenna placement
• Strong understanding of installed antenna performance, coupling effects, and interaction with surrounding structures
• Ability to clearly communicate antenna design concepts and tradeoffs to multidisciplinary engineering teams
• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance

Desired Qualifications

• Experience designing antennas for aerospace vehicles, spacecraft, missiles, aircraft, or other highly integrated platforms
• Familiarity with S-band, L-band, or other telemetry and communications frequency bands relevant to flight systems
• Experience with vehicle-level RF analysis and link budget support
• Familiarity with antenna/RF system integration in harsh thermal, vibration, shock, EMI/EMC, and radiation environments
• Experience with radome analysis, conformal antenna integration, or embedded antenna architectures
• Familiarity with aerospace and defense qualification standards such as MIL-STD-461/810, DO-160, SMC-S-016, or similar frameworks
• Experience developing custom analysis scripts or tools in Python or MATLAB to support EM post-processing, optimization, or test data reduction
• Experience in startup environments or small, highly collaborative engineering teams

Staff-Level Consideration

Exceptional candidates are also considered for Staff Antenna Engineer level. Staff-level candidates must possess all qualifications listed above, plus 8+ years of professional experience with demonstrated technical leadership in antenna system development for aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability applications. Staff-level compensation: $161,000 - $221,000.

Compensation and Location

California annual base salary: $137,000 - $193,000. Pay is determined by role, level, location, and market alignment. Individual compensation is determined case-by-case based on interviews, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, and internal equity.

This position requires in-office presence at Inversion's headquarters in Playa Vista, California.

ITAR Compliance

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required authorization from the U.S. Department of State.