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Salary: USD 170,000 - 250,000 / annual
K2 Space is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, backed by over $1 billion in funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price. The company has over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers and is mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space. With multiple launches planned for 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites per year, K2 is at the forefront of next-generation spacecraft engineering.
The RF/mmWave Post-Silicon Validation Engineer will be a hands-on technical contributor responsible for bringing up and characterizing highly integrated RF and mmWave SoCs from first silicon through product integration. This is a foundational role building RF test and validation capability from the ground up.
Key responsibilities include:
- Bring up and characterize RF/mmWave silicon including TX/RX signal chains, LNAs, PAs, mixers, LO generation, PLLs, and RF front ends
- Develop and execute comprehensive RF characterization plans across frequency, power, voltage, temperature, process, and operating modes
- Measure critical RF performance metrics including gain, noise figure, output power, compression, linearity, EVM, ACLR, phase noise, spurious performance, harmonics, sensitivity, and dynamic range
- Develop automated RF/mmWave test setups for characterization, regression, data collection, analysis, and reporting
- Work closely with RFIC designers to correlate silicon measurements with simulations and identify performance gaps and root causes
- Partner with systems/DSP teams to validate RF calibration and signal-processing algorithms on silicon
- Debug complex issues spanning silicon, package, PCB, firmware, calibration, test setup, and system behavior
- Support transition from chip-level RF characterization to product integration and system-level validation
- Contribute to building the RF/mmWave validation lab, measurement infrastructure, test methodology, and automation
- Document characterization results, silicon limitations, workarounds, and lessons learned for future silicon generations
This role offers the opportunity to work on cutting-edge satellite technology with a high-growth, well-funded company in a fast-paced environment.
REQUIREMENTS:
- BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or related field
- 5+ years of RF/mmWave silicon validation, characterization, RFIC test, or related experience
- Strong understanding of RF transceiver architectures and RF/mmWave circuits, including LNAs, PAs, mixers, PLLs, and frequency-generation systems
- Deep hands-on experience with RF/mmWave test equipment including vector network analyzers, spectrum/signal analyzers, vector signal generators, oscilloscopes, power meters, noise-figure analyzers, and phase-noise measurement equipment
- Strong understanding of RF measurement techniques, calibration, de-embedding, noise, linearity, modulation quality, and spectral analysis
- Experience developing automated characterization environments using Python or similar scripting languages and instrument-control interfaces
- Strong debugging skills and ability to isolate problems across silicon, package, PCB, firmware, and measurement environments
- Experience working closely with RFIC designers and systems engineers to correlate measurements with circuit simulations and system models
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment and build RF test capability from the ground up
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Ka-band or higher-frequency mmWave silicon characterization experience
- Experience with wideband RF transceivers
- Experience validating digitally assisted RF circuits and calibration algorithms
- Familiarity with modulated waveform measurements, EVM, ACLR, and communication-system performance
- Experience with RF probing, mmWave fixtures, calibration, and package/PCB de-embedding
- Familiarity with high-speed ADC/DAC interfaces and mixed-signal SoCs
- Experience with automated PVT characterization and large-scale measurement data analysis
- SI/PI, RF packaging, antenna, and high-frequency PCB experience
Note: ITAR compliance required—must be a U.S. person as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.
