Principal RF Electrical Engineer

HawkEye 360•Herndon, VA

9d•$170,000 - $200,000

About The Position

HawkEye 360 is seeking a Principal RF Electrical Engineer and Team Lead for its Space Team, which designs, builds, and tests small commercial satellites that provide RF geospatial analytics. The role leads electrical and RF design for space platforms, focusing on digital, analog, and power electronics as well as RF payloads, including Software Defined Radios (SDRs), RF front ends, and antenna systems. It oversees PCB design from schematic capture through layout and manufacturing and defines and executes performance tests to verify mission requirements. The position leads a small team of RF and Electrical Engineers, providing technical guidance and mentorship while remaining hands-on with design and testing. It requires strong electrical and RF engineering expertise, communication skills, and cross-functional collaboration with mechanical, software, payload, and systems engineering teams. The compensation package includes a competitive base salary, annual performance bonus, and benefits. Salary offers consider factors such as work experience, education, training, skills, market conditions, and business considerations. HawkEye 360 may also consider candidates with different experience and qualifications, which may affect the compensation package offered.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in RF/Electrical Engineering or a related field.
10+ years of hands-on experience designing and testing RF electronics, including SDRs, mixers, filters, amplifiers, and receiver chains.
Expertise in PCB design and layout using Altium or similar, including schematic capture, component selection, and layout for mixed-signal and RF applications.
Strong understanding of power electronics, high-speed digital design, and analog circuit design.
Strong understanding of RF fundamentals, including impedance matching, S-parameters, noise figure, and linearity, as well as software-defined radio architectures.
Experience using laboratory equipment such as spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, signal generators, noise figure analyzers, and RF test chambers.
Hands-on flight hardware experience, including satellite integration, RF lab testing, prototyping, or troubleshooting.
Experience handling ESD-sensitive components and working in cleanroom environments.
Strong communication skills and ability to explain complex technical concepts to cross-functional stakeholders.
At least 1 year of technical leadership, project leadership, or team lead experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the smallsat or space industry with RF payloads or communication systems.
Experience designing for radiation environments, including TID and proton exposure.
Experience with version control such as Git and modern engineering workflows.
Proficiency with Python, MATLAB, C++, or other programming languages for RF analysis and test automation.
Experience with RF simulation tools and RF modeling, such as ADS, CST, Genesys, HFSS, Scikit-RF, or Emerge.
Familiarity with CAD tools such as NX or SolidWorks to support electro-mechanical integration.

Responsibilities

Design digital, analog, and power electronics for satellite flight hardware, overseeing schematic capture, PCB layout, RF chain design, and power subsystem development to ensure technical accuracy and on-schedule delivery.
Lead PCB design and layout, addressing RF design considerations such as controlled impedance, grounding, shielding, power distribution, and signal integrity.
Establish engineering best practices, design standards, and review processes to promote reliability and consistency across hardware designs.
Facilitate root-cause analyses and corrective action efforts for flight hardware anomalies.
Manage task planning, delegation, and technical roadmapping so the RF/EE team meets program milestones from concept through flight qualification.
Work with PCB contract manufacturers to ensure quality control and timely delivery of flight hardware.
Design and develop RF payload architectures and Software Defined Radio systems for space-based RF collection missions.
Develop test procedures and automation scripts to characterize SDR and RF front-end performance.
Support spacecraft integration and testing, including designing Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE), flatsats for functional testing, and satellite flight hardware testing.
Perform first-article hardware unit testing, including reception inspection, burn-in testing, thermal validation, and hardware checkouts.
Provide technical guidance and mentorship to a small team while participating hands-on in design and testing.