RF Signals Engineer

ICEYE US•Herndon, VA

2d•$133,000 - $169,000

About The Position

At ICEYE, we design, build and operate the largest fleet of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites in the world. Using advanced technology, our constellation collects topographical data about any location on Earth, day or night, through any weather conditions. Headquartered in Southern California, our customers are society’s heroes – intelligence professionals, warfighters, first responders, and scientific researchers. As a trusted mission partner, the United States and its allies depend on us for critical information when it matters most. Role Description The RF engineer will be responsible for all aspects of the SAR design to include requirements. This roles responsibility includes the concept of operations (CONOPS) for the payload on the bus given on orbit constraints such as power, attitude, thermal loads. Being responsible for all aspects include the ground processing. With support as needed from the SAR/DevOps team, they will be responsible for designing and developing the ground-based solution that would work with various ground systems. They will need to start by deeply understanding the current ICEYE Gen4 RF design and understand the capabilities and controls. Success in this role requires someone with very detailed experience with both SAR theory as well as hands on design experience for both the hardware and software. They will need to be a self-starter with strong initiative to assist in planning out the direction, executing on the plan, then adjusting the plan when unknowns become knowns.

Requirements

Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or similar field
8+ years of experience in a similar engineering role (RF Engineering, Electrical Engineering)
4+ years of experience in a spacecraft engineering discipline
4+ years of experience in high-speed electronics and RF design
Experience in anechoic testing with phased antenna arrays
Expertise in RF test automation and data analysis
Expertise in electromagnetics, RF, and antenna theory
Familiarity with SAR imaging concepts and system design
Mastery of signal processing fundamentals, including the manipulation of complex-valued data
Must be a US person with a current TS/SCI clearance or ability to pursue one

Nice To Haves

4+ years of hands-on experience in SAR payload design and integration
Experience with assembly, integration, and testing for spacecraft/payloads
Experience with embedded programming (C/C++) and FPGA design tools (Verilog/VHDL)
Background in software configuration management (SCM) and CI/CD pipelines
Experience in Python or scripting languages for test automation
Experience with formal verification and validation of space-rated systems

Responsibilities

Analyze and optimize RF design for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payloads while collaborating with cross-functional teams to meet project specifications
Lead the design of complex systems involving high-speed digitizers, low-noise RF circuits, FPGAs, and embedded processors
Work closely with SAR Engineers to test and validate SAR payloads and data collections
Conduct detailed RF analysis for antennas and antenna arrays
Create RF subsystem requirements and derive engineering requirements to meet project goals
Perform microwave analysis using Python or similar tools
Generate documentation and effectively communicate technical information to audiences of varying technical ability
Contribute technical writing to RFIs, RFPs, and other business capture activities