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RF Systems Engineer Verified today

Vast · Long Beach, CA · RF & Comms · first seen 2026-07-16
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Vast is developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure using an incremental, hardware-rich, and low-cost approach. Haven Demo's 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Haven-1 is expected to become the world's first commercial space station when it launches in 2027. Vast recently announced Vast Satellite, a high-power satellite product line leveraging space station components.

As RF Systems Engineer reporting to the Director of RF Engineering, you will manage communication system requirements and verification for space stations and satellites. You will own one or more RF components and collaborate with mechanical, thermal, test, integration, and mission assurance engineering teams to guide those components through testing, integration, and operation.

Responsibilities

  • Own and manage spacecraft RF system requirements and verification plan
  • Specify link parameters including modulation, error correction coding, symbol rate, and channel filter
  • Calculate link budgets, considering data throughput requirements, link conditions, and ground station characteristics
  • Estimate expected data throughput and bit error rate based on link budgets
  • Maintain link budgets with consideration to on-vehicle antenna patterns, cable losses, radio specifications, and channel conditions for expected orbit
  • Support regulatory license applications by providing required analyses such as power flux density and antenna contours
  • Use standard tools such as Ansys STK to estimate coverage and link variability during real mission orbit scenarios
  • Document and review work output with peers through trade studies and design reviews
  • Own one or more RF products from development testing through mission operation
  • Be a center of subject matter expertise over RF components in the context of the overall RF system
  • Plan the design, manufacturing, testing, integration, and delivery to the vehicle and coordinate the schedule with interfacing teams and project management
  • Manage relationships with cross-functional teams including mechanical engineers, test engineers, manufacturing engineers, thermal engineers, and avionics engineers
  • Manage vendors and clearly communicate requirements, deliverables, and schedule
  • Define test plans and procedures for acceptance and qualification testing
  • Define and document checkout tests to validate proper operation during and after integration at the vehicle level
  • Support mission operations as a subject matter expert on the spacecraft RF system

Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in ECE, EE, Physics, or related STEM discipline
  • Familiarity with digital RF communication theory including satellite link budgets, G/T ratio, C/No, Eb/No, error vector magnitude, noise figure, bit error rate, modulation schemes, interference, IQ modulators, channel impairments, EIRP, free space path loss, and Doppler shift
  • Familiarity with antennas and propagation including antenna gain and directivity, antenna polarization
  • Experience with RF measurements and concepts including spectrum analyzers and noise bandwidth
  • Experience with RF fundamentals including S-parameters
  • Experience in programming for data analysis tools
  • Experience with product management including vendor management, design reviews, and requirements and verification

Preferred Skills and Experience

  • MS or PhD in ECE, EE, Physics, or related STEM discipline
  • Startup experience, aerospace experience, or design for space
  • Testing for space environments including EMI/EMC testing, environmental testing, and SMC-S-016 test requirements for launch vehicles
  • RF measurements including spectral mask and spur measurements
  • Analysis software experience with STK, Python, or Matlab
  • RF for satellite communications including orbital mechanics, P1dB, transmission line loss, spectral regrowth, harmonic distortion, and RF passive components
  • Satellite communications standards including CCSDS and DVB-S2
  • DSP for RF communications including receiver synchronization, Shannon theory, Nyquist sampling theorem, and forward error correction
  • Antenna and propagation effects including multipath, axial ratio, and cross-polarization

Employment Details

This is a full-time exempt position located in Long Beach, California. Salary range: $120,540 to $209,520 USD, calibrated to selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability.

Compensation and Benefits

Full-time employees receive company equity and access to a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, generous paid time off with up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff with ability to cash-out unused vacation annually, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks. Vast provides exceptional food perks including free snacks, drip coffee and onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals, plus subsidized lunch.

Export Control Compliance

The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls. You must either be a U.S. person as defined by 22 C.F.R. Section 120.62 or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. This includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending.