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RF Hardware Engineer

Los Angeles, CA

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others – with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers – we’re 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 we believe 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 planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply. 

The Role 

You will be responsible for the design and development of radiofrequency (RF) and microwave electronics to be hosted on some of the largest, most powerful, rapidly designed and rapidly manufactured satellites ever deployed in space. In your first 6 months you will architect, develop, own, test, and integrate new RF electronics for use in software defined radio (SDR) systems for satellite communications and beyond. You will work with a multidisciplinary team of antenna, field programmable gate array (FPGA), digital signal processing (DSP), software, mechanical, and electrical engineers in order to prototype your systems and refine your designs. In your first two years you will have flown your system in space and developed cutting-edge radiofrequency systems. 

Responsibilities 

  • Design and development of radiofrequency and microwave hardware from UHF 200 MHz through Ka band 30 GHz, including phased array antennas, low noise amplifiers, power amplifiers, filters, RF mixers, up and downconverters, high speed data converters, and other RF electronics components 
  • Design printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) for spacecraft including architecture, schematic capture, component selection, layout, bring up and debugging 
  • Qualify your designs through environmental testing including vibration, shock, thermal, and thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing 
  • Collaborate closely with internal and external stakeholders to integrate your designs into the spacecraft system 

Qualifications 

  • Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering or related science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field 
  • 1+ years of experience in microwave and RF engineering 
  • Experience designing multilayer PCBAs and integrating commercial off-the-shelf integrated circuits for RF applications in Altium or similar PCB design tools 
  • Experience with RF circuit modeling and analysis software tools such as Cadence AWR Microwave Office and Keysight ADS 
  • 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 Have 

  • Experience with component selection for use in space radiation environments and flying hardware in space 
  • Experience with antenna and electromagnetic modeling and analysis software tools such as Ansys Electronics Desktop HFSS and Altair FEKO 
  • Experience with FPGA design, implementation, verification, and validation for RF applications 
  • Experience with software defined radio hardware development including high speed RF data converters (digital to analog and analog to digital converters), clock trees, and data converter interfaces 
  • Experience with phased arrays and digital beamforming 
  • Experience with signal intelligence (SIGINT), electronic warfare (EW), and/or satellite telecommunications 
  • Knowledge of RF digital communications and digital signal processing (DSP) concepts such as spread spectrum, forward error correction, and modulation types such as BPSK, QAM, etc 

Compensation and Benefits: 

  • Base salary range for this role is $115,000 - $200,000 + equity in the company 
  • Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level 
  • Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks 

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

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As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.

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K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

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To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

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