Senior RF Design Engineer II - Pipeline
About The Position
Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior RF Design Engineer II to support the development of new RF products, including Rocket Lab’s radio product line, alongside the radio development team. This role is based onsite at Rocket Lab's global headquarters in Long Beach, CA. The engineer will design and simulate RF products, such as the Frontier-Lite Radio. The ideal candidate will possess a strong blend of RF engineering, system design, and board/circuit design skills, and will thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems. The Space Systems team at Rocket Lab builds everything from complete spacecraft and precision payloads to the components and subsystems that enable them to thrive in space. This team has supported over 1,700 missions and has built spacecraft, payloads, and components for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Requirements
- Bachelors degree in electrical engineering, RF communications (or other engineering degree) and 8+ years of relevant experience
- Fundamental RF knowledge including cascaded device analysis, link budget analysis, and HFSS
- Experience in developing and delivering a RF product including assessing requirements, prototyping engineering models, and producing space worthy products.
- A solid theoretical and practical understanding of RF communications and navigation systems and components
- U.S. citizenship is required due to program requirements
- Ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
Nice To Haves
- Extensive experience in space grade board design including parts selection and performance simulation
- Extensive experience in circuit analyses including worst case, reliability, FMECA, thermal, and derating analyses
- Extensive experience supporting and leading complex engineering programs and developing associated documentation
- Experience designing, integrating, and testing RF communications systems for launch vehicles or satellites
- Demonstrated expertise in people management.
- Experience leading incident management and investigations.
- Experience in conflict resolution and dealing with difficult people.
- The ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
- Effective communication skills and the ability to build strong working relationships
- Project management experience
Responsibilities
- Define and maintain requirements specifications
- Support the development process, ensuring key design decisions and developments are in alignment with the required product capabilities
- Design and prototype the RF product including component selection and PCB layout / fabrication / packaging
- Support the development of test plans and procedures
- Support the design and development of GSE and production automation
- Support the development of product documentation including ICDs and User Manuals
- Liaise with Test Engineers and Manufacturing Engineers to drive New Product Introduction
- Review proposals and requirements specifications to assess compliance based on existing unit capabilities vs development needs
- Scope and drive development activities for new requirements
- Support engineering reviews such as PDRs, CDRs and TRRs
- Provide technical support to internal/external customers including general questions and anomaly troubleshooting
- Maintain broad awareness of product development and production schedules to ensure the needs of customers and programs are satisfied
Benefits
- Company stock as part of total compensation package
- Employee Stock Purchase Program (with a 15% discount on company stock)
- Top-tier medical plans (HMO, PPO, and a zero cost HDHP option with a significant HSA company contribution)
- Dental and vision coverage
- Paid vacation and sick time
- 11 paid holidays
- Flexible spending and dependent care accounts
- Paid parental leave
- Disability and life insurance
- 401(k) retirement plan with company match
- Subsidized EV charging
- Onsite fitness centers (where available)
- Discounted gym memberships
- Complimentary snacks and beverages
- 50% employee discount on our popular merch store
- Variety of other employee discounts
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
