Demo

RF Design Engineer

Astranis and Careers
San Francisco, CA Full Time
POSTED ON 12/27/2025
AVAILABLE BEFORE 2/26/2026

Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity's reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe— large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military. With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts.

Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization.Astranis has raised over $750 million from some of the world's best investors, from Andreessen Horowitz to Blackrock and Fidelity, and employs a team of 450 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.

RF Design Engineer

As an RF Engineer you will be responsible for design, qualification, and procurement of active RF electronics (frequency converters, SSPAs, LNAs, PLLs, etc) in the RF front end of satellite payloads. You will work closely with other mechanical, payload systems, electrical, and software engineers to achieve overall system requirements in your designs.

Role

  • Design, simulate, implement, and measure active and passive RF sub-systems at microwave frequencies, including; SSPAs, LNAs, power amplifiers, up/down converters, oscillators, filters, etc.
  • Be responsible for hardware designs from requirements definition through manufacturing, bring-up, and qualification testing
  • Integrate these systems into the spacecraft by working closely with the rest of the team
  • Specify, procure, and integrate third party vendor hardware
  • Assist in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring additional teammates to our rapidly-growing team

Requirements

  • BS in electrical engineering, physics, applied physics, or equivalent
  • Passion for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment and hands-on design and development
  • 1-6 years of experience
  • Deep knowledge of fundamental RF concepts, such as RF circuit analysis, noise, linearity, radio architectures, etc
  • Hands-on experience in designing, building, and testing RF hardware for microwave frequencies
  • Experience with RF simulation tools (ADS, Cadence, HFSS, etc)

Bonus

  • MS or PhD in electrical engineering, physics, applied physics, or equivalent
  • Experience with PCB design, layout and simulation (Altium or similar)
  • Experience with system in package (SiP), multi-chip modules (MCM), packaged RF hybrids, etc
  • Experience developing communications satellite payloads
  • Experience designing SSPAs or implementing SSPA-based phased arrays
  • Experience with designing high reliability electronics for harsh environments such as space or automotive
  • Antennas and Electromagnetics propagation knowledge and background
  • Experience with Software Defined Radios and associated skillset (mixed signal, high speed digital)
  • Familiarity with Python or other scripting languages used for automating test instruments
U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required
(To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))
Our mission and our products are meant to connect the world and everyone in it, regardless of gender, race, creed, or any other distinction. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we encourage all people to join our team and bring their unique perspective to help make us stronger.

Salary : $120,000 - $155,000

If your compensation planning software is too rigid to deploy winning incentive strategies, it’s time to find an adaptable solution. Compensation Planning
Enhance your organization's compensation strategy with salary data sets that HR and team managers can use to pay your staff right. Surveys & Data Sets

What is the career path for a RF Design Engineer?

Sign up to receive alerts about other jobs on the RF Design Engineer career path by checking the boxes next to the positions that interest you.
Income Estimation: 
$102,148 - $116,687
Income Estimation: 
$125,799 - $152,617
Income Estimation: 
$110,220 - $132,692
Income Estimation: 
$111,195 - $140,107
Income Estimation: 
$126,558 - $144,904
Income Estimation: 
$77,212 - $88,935
Income Estimation: 
$101,213 - $124,848
Income Estimation: 
$90,267 - $107,792
Income Estimation: 
$90,926 - $113,495
Income Estimation: 
$102,148 - $116,687
View Core, Job Family, and Industry Job Skills and Competency Data for more than 15,000 Job Titles Skills Library

Job openings at Astranis and Careers

  • Astranis and Careers San Francisco, CA
  • Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity's reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure... more
  • 14 Days Ago

  • Astranis and Careers San Francisco, CA
  • Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity's reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure... more
  • 15 Days Ago

  • Astranis and Careers San Francisco, CA
  • Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity's reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure... more
  • 15 Days Ago

  • Astranis and Careers San Francisco, CA
  • Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity's reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure... more
  • 15 Days Ago


Not the job you're looking for? Here are some other RF Design Engineer jobs in the San Francisco, CA area that may be a better fit.

  • Astranis Space Technologies San Francisco, CA
  • Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure... more
  • 19 Days Ago

  • Astranis Space Technologies San Francisco, CA
  • Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure... more
  • 5 Days Ago

AI Assistant is available now!

Feel free to start your new journey!