What are the responsibilities and job description for the Spacecraft Communications Payload Lead Engineer position at AdAstra?
About the Company Our client is building rockets to serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Their vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. But that’s just the start. Achieving commercial success with this vehicle will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyond the known.
This is a direct hire, permanent placement position for a client of AdAstra Talent Advisors
Joining our client offers the opportunity to work in a highly autonomous environment where individual contributions directly influence outcomes. Engineers take real ownership of challenging problems and collaborate across disciplines to develop complex systems from concept through execution. The organization emphasizes speed with discipline, pairing creative problem-solving with strong technical fundamentals. It’s an environment where there is still room to shape products, processes, and culture, while working on hardware that is actively being built, tested, and integrated.
About the Role As the Communications Payload Lead Engineer, you will own the technical architecture, design, development, integration, and verification of a spacecraft communications payload.You will define a system architecture that meets functional performance requirements while closing key technical constraints including structural integration, thermal management, power, EMI/EMC, and reliability. You will work closely with and lead a small team of subject matter experts and responsible engineers across communications, compute, power, and thermal disciplines to deliver a fully integrated system.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field
- 10 years of experience designing and delivering complex electrical systems, ideally with direct leadership in RF and compute heavy projects
- Experience owning complex multi-disciplinary systems through the full lifecycle, from architecture and design through integration and delivery
- Strong technical background in electrical system architecture and/or detailed design
- Working knowledge of systems engineering principles, including interface definition and requirements management
- Familiarity with technical risk identification and mitigation for complex problems
- Strong technical communication and structured problem-solving skills
- Experience with RF-based communication systems design (terrestrial or space), including link budgets, antennas, radios, test, and final integration
- Experience with high-capability terrestrial compute or data-handling/storage systems
- Familiarity with electronics design for space or radiation-influenced environments
- Exposure to aerospace systems engineering practices in commercial or government programs *The above qualifications are desired, not required. We encourage you to apply if you are a strong candidate with only some of the desired skills and experience listed.
Logistical Requirements
- Location: On-Site, Southern California
- Commitment: Full-time, high-autonomy
ITAR Requirement
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To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.15), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
- Strong Benefits Package
- $176,000-$225,000
Equal Opportunity
Our client is an equal opportunity employer. They evaluate qualified applicants without regard to 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.About AdAstra AdAstra Talent Advisors is a headhunting and talent advising firm focused on the Climate, Space, and Defense sectors of Hard Tech. We specialize in pairing highly technical and executive talent with some of the world’s leading Hard Tech startups.
At AdAstra, we catalyze the innovations that future generations depend on by placing the right people in the right seats. Our dedicated work enables inconceivable technology from Earth, to the stars. And it’s all because of trailblazing talent like you - those driven to do what’s never been done before.
We care about long term relationships with both candidates and companies. Even if the role we initially discuss isn’t a perfect fit, it’s likely we’ll have something relevant to share with you in the future.
Join us on our journey by following along via LinkedIn!
CEO, Seyka Mejeur | LinkedIn profile
CTO / COO, Brian Mejeur | LinkedIn profile
AdAstra Talent Advisors | LinkedIn profile
AdAstra Website
Salary : $176,000 - $225,000