Antenna Engineer (Starship)

About the role

This team is responsible for RF engineering for the Starship vehicles. This includes both hardware product development (of radios/antennas), as well as ownership of the comm system architecture, analysis, and verification. Hardware development involves managing the development of your product, from design concept through prototyping, qualification testing, and moving into stable production.

Systems roles involve extreme ownership of a system from design concept, through integration and test, and even support analysis or on-console for flight. Work may vary in frequency band from UHF (400 MHz) through Ka-band (40 GHz). We also do work outside of communications, including GPS and radar for sensing.

We support both the orbital starship vehicle (current development that can be observed in Starbase) as well as the HLS lunar missions for NASA Artemis. We own communications from the baseband (FPGA + modem) through the passband (RF + antenna), and we work closely with mechanical, production, and integration teams.

Responsibilities

• Design of antennas for communications and sensors, in VHF through Ka-band
• Build and characterization of antenna, feed, and front-end prototypes
• Development of measurement systems to support design
• Analysis of wireless systems (antenna isolation, patterns with large structures, propagation effects, etc.)
• Multidisciplinary collaboration to improve RF manufacturing, mechanical integration, and testability

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 1+ years of relevant professional or project experience with antennas or RF systems
• 1+ years of experience with 3D electromagnetic simulation tools

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's degree or higher in an engineering discipline with emphasis in electromagnetic theory and/or microwave circuits
• Master's degree in electrical engineering (electromagnetic or circuits)
• Experience with test equipment such as spectrum analyzer, signal generator, network analyzer, power meters, and RF passive components
• Proficiency with basic RF concepts such as impedance matching, linear and aperture antennas, smith chart, power handling metrics (IIP2, IMD), microwave network analysis, RF filter design
• Experience with near-field or far-field chamber design and operation
• Experience with electrical schematic capture software (Altium, Orcad or similar)
• Experience with electromagnetics simulation tools such as HFSS, CST, Savant, or similar - including tradeoffs of FEM, MoM, FDTD, and PO methods
• Familiar with one of the mainstream RF circuit simulation tools: AWR, ADS, Genesys
• Experience with Python, MATLAB, or C/C++ programming for data analysis or test equipment interfacing
• Basic CAD skills for prototype designs and working directly with mechanical engineers
• Excellent communication and documentation skills, and ability to collaborate with other engineering disciplines

Additional Requirements

• Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed

Pay range

Antenna Engineer/Level II: $145,000.00 - $175,000.00/per year

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience. Those with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year.

Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.

Itar Requirements

• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.