Senior Communications Systems Engineer - Lunar Permanence

BLUE ORIGIN • West Melbourne, FL

9d • $144,179 - $219,522

About The Position

This role is part of Blue Origin’s Lunar Permanence business unit, which develops Blue Moon landers and related products. The position serves as a Communication Systems Responsible Engineer within the spacecraft Avionics team, focusing on communications subsystem integration. The engineer leads multifunctional trade studies, performs integrated analyses, and defines interfaces that affect spacecraft design and integration.

The role develops communication system designs for in-space architectures and supports requirements management, concept of operations development, subsystem analysis, verification and validation, integration and test, vehicle-level interfaces, and safety documentation. It also includes mentoring early-career systems engineers. The work contributes to sustainable transportation of crew and cargo from Earth to the lunar surface and to Blue Origin’s goal of enabling people to live and work in space.

Requirements

• B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical area.
• Experience in communications systems or RF testing.
• Working knowledge of major RF components used in a communications subsystem, such as SSPAs, LNAs, transceivers, waveguides, antennas, and filters.
• Strong communications fundamentals, including digital modulation schemes such as QPSK variants (OQPSK, UQPSK, and spread spectrum approaches), FEC encoding such as Reed-Solomon and LDPC codes, and the relationship between information rates and RF requirements.
• Experience delivering communications systems for spacecraft applications, including addressing radiation effects, hardware/software integration, and thermal management.
• Experience integrating communications systems into larger systems, including defining management and data interfaces using protocols such as RS-422, Ethernet, SpaceWire, and HDLC.
• Experience developing static and dynamic RF simulations, such as link budgets, coverage analyses, and line-of-sight simulations, using tools such as HFSS, STK, MATLAB, and/or Python.
• Working knowledge of space environments and the process of space-qualifying a communications flight unit.
• Ability to work from incomplete specifications and drive work to completion.
• Proven ability to interpret and apply high-level system requirements to practical design solutions for a complex physical assembly.
• In-depth knowledge of systems engineering practices, including requirements development, standard verification methods, functional decomposition, standard diagramming techniques, and risk and opportunity management.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

• Seven or more years of satellite communications systems experience and familiarity with all phases of an RF product lifecycle, from concept, design, manufacture, test, and integration.
• Knowledge of in-space relay communications protocols and architectures.
• Knowledge of direct-with-Earth communications and ranging approaches.
• Knowledge of vehicle-to-vehicle crosslink communications and ranging.
• Working knowledge of simulation software such as HFSS for antenna placement studies, coverage analysis, antenna pattern simulations, ray tracing simulations, and other RF studies.
• Full lifecycle engineering experience for a communications system, from clean-sheet architecture definition through operations planning and support.
• Experience writing RF test procedures and performing subsystem-level functional tests.

Responsibilities

• Develop communication system designs for one or more in-space architectures.
• Allocate and decompose higher-level functions and requirements to communications subsystems.
• Support alignment, documentation, and consistent implementation of Lunar Permanence systems engineering practices across applicable projects.
• Support system- and lower-level requirements management, including change control, audits, and coordination with other teams.
• Support development and creation of ConOps.
• Develop, track, and maintain communications subsystem analyses and simulations, including link analysis, signal distortion, system capacity, coverage analysis, and performance.
• Develop subsystem verification and validation activity definitions, including verification methods, expectations, and compliance criteria.
• Coordinate with Integration & Test teams to ensure test facilities, including integration labs, have capabilities specified by requirements.
• Track verification and validation activities through completion, including reviewing subsystem test plans and potentially traveling to test facilities when needed.
• Support definition of vehicle-level interfaces between systems and elements interacting with internal components.
• Support authoring safety artifacts, including functional hazard assessments and hazard mitigations.
• Mentor early-career systems engineers.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Basic and supplemental life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Short- and long-term disability
• 401(k) with a 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
• Employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses depending on role type and job level; amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed.

What This Job Offers

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