Senior Microwave Antenna Engineer

Senior Microwave Antenna Engineer

Durham, NC | Full-Time | Onsite

A fast-growing New Space startup is developing next-generation satellite imaging technology that will dramatically improve the accessibility and scale of Earth observation. Following major commercial traction, significant strategic investment, and rapid engineering growth, they're looking for a Senior Microwave Antenna Engineer to take ownership of one of the most critical parts of their spacecraft payload.

This is an opportunity to own the complete antenna hardware development lifecycle—from concept through flight hardware—while working alongside a highly experienced multidisciplinary engineering team.

The Role

You'll lead the design, development and validation of advanced microwave antenna systems for a next-generation satellite payload. This role goes far beyond antenna design—you'll own the RF hardware surrounding the antenna, including PCB development, testing, calibration and system integration.

You'll work closely with systems, RF, electronics, software and spacecraft engineers to deliver hardware that will fly on upcoming missions.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop microwave antenna systems for space applications.
• Own RF, antenna and supporting PCB hardware development.
• Design RF, digital and control circuit boards.
• Lead antenna manufacturing, bring-up and testing.
• Perform antenna measurements including gain, radiation patterns and RF performance.
• Develop calibration and self-test capabilities.
• Support integration with spacecraft and payload subsystems.
• Work closely with systems engineering during environmental testing and hardware verification.
• Drive technical decisions throughout the product lifecycle.

Requirements

• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics or a related discipline.
• Experience designing microwave antennas and RF hardware.
• Strong understanding of electromagnetics and RF PCB design.
• Hands-on experience with RF measurement equipment including Vector Network Analysers.
• Experience with tools such as HFSS, CST, ADS, Altium or similar.
• Experience across S, C, X, Ku or Ka-band systems.
• Comfortable taking hardware from design through manufacturing and test.
• Able to work independently within a fast-paced engineering environment.

Nice to Have

• Satellite or aerospace hardware experience.
• SAR payload experience.
• Electronically steerable or phased array antenna experience.
• Metasurface antenna experience.
• Environmental qualification testing (TVAC, vibration, EMI/EMC).
• Multi-physics simulation across RF, thermal and mechanical domains.
• Link budget and system-level RF optimisation.

Why Apply?

• Join an early-stage company at a pivotal point of growth.
• Build hardware that will fly on upcoming satellite missions.
• Significant ownership and technical autonomy.
• Work alongside an experienced team solving genuinely difficult engineering problems.
• Strong equity package alongside a competitive salary.
• Help shape both the product and engineering organisation as the company scales.

If you're looking for an opportunity to own critical RF hardware development from concept

through launch in a fast-moving space startup, we'd love to hear from you.