RF Avionics Systems Engineer

K2 Space•Los Angeles, CA

10h

About The Position

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors and over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, K2 is mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space. The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and K2 believes this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits. With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, K2 is Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. The Role You will be responsible for the component management, system integration and operation of radiofrequency (RF) electronics across some of the biggest, most powerful, rapidly designed and rapidly manufactured satellites ever deployed in space. In your first 6 months you will develop, design, own, test, and integrate new RF and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), including radios, antennas, and other hardware. You will work with a team of fellow RF, FPGA, software, mechanical, and electrical engineers in order to develop your RF systems and execute environmental and performance testing to refine your designs. In your first year, you will have flown your RF systems in space and downlinked critical mission and payload data. Following this, you will enhance system reliability and begin designing even more capable RF systems for future generations of large and powerful spacecraft.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or related science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field
1+ years of experience in microwave / RF engineering
Fundamental RF knowledge including familiarity with crafting RF link budgets and doing antenna placement planning
Familiarity with Python or MATLAB
Experience with RF test equipment such as vector network analyzers (VNA), spectrum analyzer, etc.
Ability to work in a fast-paced and high velocity start-up atmosphere

Nice To Haves

Experience with flying hardware in space and creating/maintaining link budgets
End to end testing with flight hardware, software, and ground station providers
Experience with environmental testing for space electronics such as thermal, vibration, TVAC, radiation, and EMI/EMC testing per standards such as SMC-S-016
Experience with RF modeling and analysis software tools such as Ansys Electronics Desktop HFSS, Altair FEKO, Keysight ADS, Cadence AWR Microwave Office
Familiar with software defined radio development including data converters (digital to analog and analog to digital converters), clock trees, data converter interfaces, and sampling concepts
Familiarity with digital communications systems & theory, including spread spectrum, forward error correction, and modulation types such as BPSK, QAM, etc.
Ability to research novel solutions for unique large-scale satellite RF systems including but not limited to satellite communications and electronic warfare

Responsibilities

Oversee all technical and programmatic aspects of the RF systems that fly on the satellite, including but not limited to telemetry, command, and GNSS radios, antennas, and link budgets from UHF through Ka-band
Serve as responsible engineer for flight hardware from design through integration and operations on orbit
Own acceptance and qualification screening of your hardware design(s) through environmental testing such as vibration, shock, thermal, and thermal vacuum testing
Work with internal (mechanical, electrical, integration, test, and software engineers) and external (vendors) stakeholders to integrate your designs into the spacecraft systems and operate your hardware in flight
Own FCC licensing and ground segment compatibility testing and coordination
Lead vehicle integration and testing efforts to ensure hardware reliability and deconfliction with payload customers