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Salary: USD 110,875 - 143,625 / annual
Rocket Lab is seeking an RF Phased Array Engineer II to join its Space Systems team at the Long Beach headquarters. The Space Systems team designs and manufactures spacecraft, payloads, and subsystems (including solar panels, flight software, star trackers, optical systems, radios, and phased arrays) that enable missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The team has supported over 1,700 missions for partners including NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force.
In this role, you will be responsible for developing new RF products and systems, particularly phased arrays, and evaluating commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. You will model and simulate antenna performance for current programs and proposals, working in a fast-paced environment that demands both component-level and system-level antenna expertise.
Key responsibilities include:
**Product Development:**
- Support end-to-end development from architecture design, prototyping, integration, and test through flight qualification
- Model and simulate array performance
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams of RF, digital, power, mechanical, thermal, and structural engineers
- Support transition of developments from new product introduction to production
- Interface with vendors and customers
- Develop test plans and procedures for active antennas, including EIRP and G/T measurements
- Design and develop ground support equipment (GSE) and production automation
- Contribute to product documentation including Interface Control Documents (ICDs) and User Manuals
**Customer and Program Support:**
- Support proposals and requirements specifications, assessing compliance against existing capabilities and identifying development needs
- Implement development activities for new requirements
- Support engineering reviews (PDRs, CDRs, TRRs)
- Provide technical support to internal and external customers, including troubleshooting and anomaly resolution
- Maintain awareness of product development and production schedules to ensure customer and program needs are met
The role involves occasional exposure to moderate levels of noise, dust, and fumes in production areas, and may require prolonged periods of sitting, standing, walking, and computer work.
**Requirements:**
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, RF Communications, or equivalent qualification
- 2+ years of relevant experience
- Fundamental RF knowledge including link budget analysis and linearity
- Solid theoretical and practical understanding of RF communications and navigation systems and components
- Basic knowledge of antenna and array modeling
- Ability to obtain TS/SCI security clearance
- U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent resident status, or eligible for required ITAR authorizations
**Nice-to-Have Qualifications:**
- Extensive experience in space-grade system design
- Extensive experience in analyses including worst-case, reliability, FMECA, thermal, and derating analyses
- Extensive experience supporting and leading complex engineering programs and developing associated documentation
- Experience designing, integrating, and testing RF communications systems for launch vehicles or satellites
- Demonstrated expertise in mentoring others
- Experience leading incident management and investigations
- Experience in conflict resolution
- Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
- Effective communication skills and ability to build strong working relationships
- Project management experience
