Beamforming Systems & Simulation Engineer

Blue Origin • Bay Area, CA

3d

About The Position

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight! Blue Origin is pioneering the future of space-based communications with TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This multi-orbit constellation will consist of optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations worldwide. We are seeking a Senior Beamforming Systems & Simulation Engineer to develop and own system-level modeling and performance analysis for large-scale phased-array satellite communication systems. This engineer will work at the intersection of communications systems, antenna arrays, beamforming algorithms, RF systems, satellite geometry, and digital implementation. The role will develop high-fidelity simulation frameworks used to define beamforming architecture, evaluate system performance, drive requirements, and assess design tradeoffs across antenna, RF, modem, FPGA/ASIC, and satellite subsystems.

Requirements

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related technical field.
• Strong background in phased arrays, beamforming, digital signal processing, or wireless communication systems.
• Experience developing numerical/system-level simulation environments using MATLAB and/or Python.
• Strong understanding of antenna arrays, array factors, beam steering, spatial processing, and RF/communications fundamentals.
• Experience performing system-level performance analysis using metrics such as SINR, EIRP, G/T, coverage, interference, and link margin.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to translate physical-system behavior into simulation models and engineering requirements.
• Ability to work across antenna, RF, DSP, modem, FPGA/ASIC, and system engineering disciplines.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with satellite or NTN communication systems.
• Experience with large-scale multi-beam phased arrays.
• Experience with link-budget-driven beamforming optimization and coverage analysis.
• Understanding of OFDM/5G/3GPP physical-layer concepts.
• Experience modeling satellite orbital geometry, attitude, or pointing errors.
• Experience with GPU acceleration/CUDA, C/C++, or high-performance numerical computing.
• Experience transitioning beamforming algorithms from MATLAB/Python models toward FPGA/ASIC implementation.
• Experience correlating beamforming simulations with measured antenna or system data.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain end-to-end simulation frameworks for large phased-array satellite communication systems.
• Model digital and hybrid beamforming architectures, including multi-beam operation, beam steering, beam shaping, and orthogonal beam generation.
• Analyze array performance including beam patterns, sidelobes, scan loss, grating lobes, element patterns, array gain, and beam-to-beam interference.
• Generate system-level coverage maps, SINR distributions, interference analysis, and link-performance statistics across satellite passes and service areas.
• Incorporate satellite geometry, attitude, pointing errors, antenna orientation, and GNC inputs into beamforming simulations.
• Model real-world array and RF impairments including amplitude/phase errors, calibration errors, element failures, quantization, coupling effects, and hardware constraints.
• Integrate beamforming analysis with communication-system link budgets and translate system requirements into antenna, RF, and digital beamforming requirements.
• Perform Monte Carlo and corner-case analysis to quantify performance margins and system robustness.
• Evaluate beamforming architecture tradeoffs including number of beams, number of elements, digital chains, subarray configurations, beam overlap, and resource allocation.
• Develop algorithms and models in MATLAB and/or Python, with opportunities to accelerate large-scale simulations using C/C++ or GPU/CUDA.
• Work closely with Antenna, RF, Communications Systems, GNC, Modem/PHY, FPGA, and ASIC teams.
• Support correlation of analytical and simulation models with hardware measurements, antenna characterization, and system-level testing.
• Develop clear technical documentation and communicate simulation results and architectural recommendations to cross-functional engineering teams.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
• Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
• Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior