Principal Engineer – TeraWave RF and Optical Systems

BLUE ORIGIN•Redmond, WA

10d•$230,773 - $323,082•Onsite

About The Position

The Principal Engineer for RF and Optical System Integration & Verification will own the end-to-end integration, bring-up, and verification strategy for TeraWave’s RF and optical communications payloads, user and gateway terminals, and ground segment. The role will establish how the system’s links are verified, from laboratory and chamber testing through hardware-in-the-loop emulation, on-orbit commissioning, and flight operations. This is a Principal-level individual-contributor and technical leadership role within Blue Origin’s Emerging Systems business unit. The engineer will direct system owners and projects across teams, set technical direction for verification of space-based RF and optical links, advise leadership and customers on advanced technical studies, and identify and solve complex problems where the path forward is unclear. The role also includes leading technical teams, developing test capabilities and infrastructure, contributing production-quality code, and supporting system commissioning and operations. The position is onsite in the Greater Seattle Area, Washington, or Cupertino, California, with a temporary remote-work exception while the local site is developed. Relocation assistance is available, and travel may be required up to 25% of the time. Applicants must meet the stated U.S. citizenship or immigration-status requirement.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
At least 7 years of experience in RF and/or optical communications system integration, test, and verification for complex hardware/software systems.
Demonstrated ownership of end-to-end integration and verification lifecycles, from requirements and concepts of operations through design and simulation, laboratory/chamber verification, hardware-in-the-loop emulation, and field or on-orbit validation.
Hands-on expertise with RF test and reference equipment, including signal generators and analyzers, VNAs, oscilloscopes, channel emulators, noise and power meters, and phase-noise analyzers, and with anechoic chamber, CATR, or OTA test methods.
Working knowledge of link budgets and modem/PHY performance metrics, including EVM, ACLR, PAPR, sensitivity, BER/BLER, MCS/FEC behavior, CFO/SFO, and timing recovery.
Proficiency developing test automation and analysis software in Python and MATLAB/Simulink, with working knowledge of C/C++ and Linux-based test and networking environments.
Experience leading cross-functional technical teams and mentoring senior engineers; excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Must be a U.S. citizen or national, a U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted to the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
At least 10 years of experience verifying mission-critical communications systems, including satellite communications, LEO mega-constellations, non-terrestrial networks, cellular wireless, or terrestrial telecom.
Experience with software-defined radios; RF transceivers and antenna-system control such as phased arrays or parabolic/gimbaled antennas; or optical transceivers and free-space optical/laser communication terminals with acquisition, pointing, and tracking.
Experience verifying TT&C, feeder/gateway, user links, and inter-satellite or optical cross-links, and with satellite bring-up and on-orbit commissioning at constellation scale.
Experience building hardware-in-the-loop or digital-twin test frameworks that emulate orbital dynamics using GNSS simulators, hexapods, and positioners, and with nanosecond-class precision timing and positioning verification.
Experience with 3GPP NTN, Release 17 or later callbox/UE emulation, DU/CU vendor evaluation, or hosted-payload integration on a satellite bus.
Experience defining and deploying large-scale laboratory, ground-station, and mobile test infrastructure, including RF, power, clock/timing, thermal, and network architecture.
Familiarity with formal verification methods for safety-critical software, radiation-hardened computing environments, and ITU/FCC spectrum and regulatory coordination.
Track record of publications, patents, or standards-body participation such as 3GPP, IEEE, AIAA, or CCSDS.

Responsibilities

Own the integration and verification architecture and test automation framework for TeraWave RF and optical payloads, terminals, ground stations, and links.
Conduct trade studies, build prototypes, assess feasibility, and recommend integration and verification architecture options.
Define verification strategy and requirements traceability from concepts of operations and link budgets through subsystem testing, system-level hardware-in-the-loop emulation, environmental and chamber campaigns, and on-orbit validation.
Develop, apply, and teach technical principles across requirements, design, analysis, build, verification, and test.
Develop and deploy Agentic-AI systems for automated ground validation, data acquisition and analysis, troubleshooting, optimization identification, and test-campaign execution.
Lead cross-functional integration campaigns with hardware, silicon, RF/antenna, optical, modem/DSP, flight software, SDN, networking, and systems engineering teams.
Direct laboratory and site-level satellite and terminal bring-up, including RF line-up, optical bench alignment, clock and timing distribution, power, thermal, networking infrastructure, and rooftop and ground antenna integration.
Own RF payload line-up and link-budget verification, including EVM, ACLR, PAPR, transmit power and spectral flatness, receiver sensitivity, adjacent-channel selectivity, linearity and compression, phased-array beam formation, sidelobes, and pointing accuracy.
Own optical-link verification, including coherent optical transceiver characterization, pre- and post-FEC BER, OSNR and power-budget margin, acquisition and tracking, pointing-jitter performance, and terminal-to-terminal cross-link closure.
Own PHY-layer verification of data rates, throughput, BLER across MCS points, and residual timing error, CFO/SFO, phase noise, and Doppler effects in a LEO channel.
Own MAC- and network-layer verification of network entry, power control, link adaptation, scheduling, handover, and make-before-break continuity under representative constellation dynamics.
Direct high-fidelity hardware-in-the-loop frameworks that replicate orbital dynamics using ranges, channel emulators, GNSS simulators, hexapods or positioners, and precision RF and optical reference instruments.
Model constellation geometry, antenna ground projections, and SINR variation to predict and validate data-rate performance across latitudes, beam configurations, and orbital or launch phases.
Lead the evolution and continuous improvement of verification software-development lifecycles across teams, including CI/CD regression pipelines, test-vector generation, instrument abstraction, and automated data reduction and analysis.
Promote software and test engineering practices such as version-controlled test assets, test-driven development, code review, reproducible environments, and telemetry-driven analysis.
Develop production-quality test automation, signal-processing, and analysis code and tooling in Python, C/C++, and MATLAB/Simulink; define and measure performance KPIs.
Define and direct multi-year laboratory, chamber, and ground-station infrastructure roadmaps, including capital planning, vendor selection, procurement, and deployment of permanent, mobile, and field test capabilities.
Lead complex RF/optical, digital, and software-interaction anomaly investigations and root-cause analyses, and drive corrective and preventive actions to closure.
Drive operational-excellence initiatives that address processes, tooling, or test capabilities that slow innovation or block delivery.
Support on-orbit commissioning and flight operations, including test-as-you-fly validation, performance characterization, and handoff of runbooks and operating procedures.
Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership through design reviews, technical forums, mentoring, and technical direction; review and ensure the technical accuracy of others’ work.
Guide major programs in formal technical leadership roles and manage updates on schedule, budget, milestones, and risk for owned systems.
Develop and manage relationships with internal teams, external partners, vendors, and standards bodies; advise leadership and customers on advanced technical studies.
Own technical documentation, verification reports, interface control documents, test plans, and procedures, including release criteria.
Build internal and industry subject-matter expertise through intellectual-property invention, publications, and leadership or committee participation.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Basic and supplemental life insurance
Paid parental leave
Short- and long-term disability
401(k) with company match of up to 5%
Education Support Program
Stock options for regular employees working at least 20 hours per week
Paid time off of up to four weeks per year, based on weekly scheduled hours
Up to 14 company-paid holidays
Relocation assistance
Some employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses depending on role type and job level; amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed