Senior RF Electrical Engineer

HawkEye 360•Herndon, VA

About The Position

HawkEye 360 is seeking a Sr. RF Electrical Engineer on the Space Team. The Space Team’s mission is to design, build, and test small commercial satellites that provide revolutionary RF geospatial analytics. You will perform RF and electrical design of our space platforms with a primary focus on our RF payloads. This includes RF front ends, integrating Software Defined Radios (SDR’s) and antenna systems. You’ll define and execute RF performance tests to verify mission requirements while also developing analog, digital, and power electronics across our satellite platforms. This role requires strong RF and Electrical Engineering expertise working cross functionally with the mechanical, software, payload, and systems engineering teams. As the Senior RF Electrical Engineer, your main responsibilities will be: Design and develop RF payload architectures and Software Defined Radio systems for space-based RF collection missions. Design and optimize RF front ends, including filtering, amplification, frequency conversion, and signal conditioning circuitry. Perform electrical and RF simulations at a board and system level to validate the performance of different sub-systems. Perform RF link budget analysis, interference modeling, and sensitivity trade studies to meet mission performance requirements. Support payload architecture decisions through mission-driven trade studies at PDR/CDR milestones. Define and scope RF performance test plans to verify key specifications including sensitivity, dynamic range, spurious emissions, linearity, and signal quality. Develop test procedures and automation scripts to characterize SDR and RF front-end performance. Execute EMI/EMC compliance testing and develop mitigation strategies for flight hardware. Design digital, analog, and power electronics for satellite flight hardware. Create and review schematics, block diagrams, PCB layouts, and Design for Manufacturing (DFM). Work closely with PCB Contract Manufacturers (CMs) to ensure quality control and timely delivery of flight hardware. Support spacecraft integration and testing efforts, including the design of 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.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in RF/Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Expert understanding of software-defined radio architectures, RF front-ends, and space-based RF systems.
7+ years of hands-on experience designing and testing RF electronics, including SDRs, mixers, filters, amplifiers, and receiver chains.
Experience s using lab equipment such as Spectrum Analyzers, Network Analyzers, Signal Generators, Noise Figure Analyzers, and RF test chambers.
Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively across multi-disciplinary teams.
Understanding of power electronics, high-speed digital design, and RF fundamentals (impedance matching, S-parameters, noise figure, linearity, etc.).
Expertise in PCB design and layout (Altium or similar) with attention to RF design considerations (controlled impedance, grounding, shielding).
Hands-on flight hardware experience (satellite integration, RF lab testing, prototyping, troubleshooting).
Experience handling ESD-sensitive components and operating in cleanroom environments.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in the smallsat or space industry with RF payloads or communication systems.
Experience with version control (git) and continuous integration workflows.
Proficiency with Python, C++, MATLAB, or other coding languages for RF analysis and test automation.
Experience with RF simulation tools (ADS, CST, HFSS, or similar).
Familiarity with CAD (NX, SolidWorks, etc.) to support electro-mechanical integration.
Experience with EMI/EMC testing
Experience using collaboration tools such as JIRA, Confluence, etc.

Responsibilities

Design and develop RF payload architectures and Software Defined Radio systems for space-based RF collection missions.
Design and optimize RF front ends, including filtering, amplification, frequency conversion, and signal conditioning circuitry.
Perform electrical and RF simulations at a board and system level to validate the performance of different sub-systems.
Perform RF link budget analysis, interference modeling, and sensitivity trade studies to meet mission performance requirements.
Support payload architecture decisions through mission-driven trade studies at PDR/CDR milestones.
Define and scope RF performance test plans to verify key specifications including sensitivity, dynamic range, spurious emissions, linearity, and signal quality.
Develop test procedures and automation scripts to characterize SDR and RF front-end performance.
Execute EMI/EMC compliance testing and develop mitigation strategies for flight hardware.
Design digital, analog, and power electronics for satellite flight hardware.
Create and review schematics, block diagrams, PCB layouts, and Design for Manufacturing (DFM).
Work closely with PCB Contract Manufacturers (CMs) to ensure quality control and timely delivery of flight hardware.
Support spacecraft integration and testing efforts, including the design of 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.