RF Systems Test Engineer

About the role

You will integrate flight and lab RF hardware electronics, designing test beds and fixtures for operational verification of RF hardware and software technologies. You will design, develop, and document test and integration procedures specifically for flight and lab RF hardware, focusing on RF Front Ends and Mixed-Signal Digital Electronics. You will also design, develop, specify, and maintain hardware and software for Electronic Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) to support satellite RF digital phased array payload verification across functional and environmental testing cycles. Expect to perform bench-level work with electronics to debug and troubleshoot issues that arise during testing, including both functional and environmental testing scenarios. You will work closely with engineers and technicians to inform the design, development, and optimization of the company's operational testing procedures and policies for production and research and development campaigns. A huge focus will be placed on automation for testing and data collection tools to ensure testing can be done reliably, repeatedly, and at scale in production environments. By joining Lynk, you will directly touch the lives of billions as the company brings mobile broadband to every corner of the globe.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Integrate flight and lab RF hardware electronics, designing test beds, fixtures, etc. for operational verification of RF hardware and software technologies.
• Design, develop, and document test and integration procedures for flight and lab RF hardware, particularly RF Front Ends, and Mixed-Signal Digital Electronics.
• Design, develop, specify, and maintain hardware and software for Electronic Ground Support Equipment aka EGSE to be used to support satellite RF digital phased array payload verification, particularly before, during, and after functional and environmental testing.
• Perform bench-level work with electronics to debug and troubleshoot issues that arise during testing, including functional and environmental testing.
• Work alongside engineers and technicians to inform the design, development, and optimization of the company's operational testing procedures and policies for our Production and research and development campaign for our space technology.
• Drive huge focus on automation for testing and data collection tools to ensure testing can be done reliably, repeatedly, and at scale in production.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate system requirements into testable hardware and software verification strategies.
• Support the qualification and acceptance testing of digital phased array antenna payloads against defined mission requirements.
• Contribute to the development of automated test frameworks that improve test coverage, reduce manual effort, and increase test execution speed.
• Maintain detailed test logs, analyze test data, and provide clear technical reports to guide design iterations and product improvements.
• Assist in the development and maintenance of test procedures for compliance and regulatory verification activities.
• Support the integration of new hardware modules into existing test setups with minimal disruption to test schedules.
• Participate in root cause analysis for test failures and drive corrective and preventive actions with the design and engineering teams.
• Ensure test environments are properly configured, calibrated, and maintained to support accurate and repeatable test results.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of test documentation, procedures, and best practices across the RF test organization.

Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree or better in Electrical Engineering, RF Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, or similar degrees.
• 5+ years of experience as an RF Engineer focused on system design and/or test.
• Experience with standard RF lab equipment is required: Oscilloscopes, Spectrum and Vector Network Analyzer, Multimeter, etc.
• Hands-on experience with RFFE printed circuit boards, single-board computers, microcontrollers, FPGAs, GPUs, CPUs, SoCs, software-defined radios, and/or antennas.
• Ability to read and understand datasheets for integrated circuits and electronics.
• Experience using Linux based systems and programming proficiency in one or more programming languages, such as Rust, C++, C, Python, MATLAB, etc.
• Must have good communication skills and be able to work independently as well as in a team environment.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States and currently residing in the United States.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen, U.S. National, Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card holder), Refugee, or Asylee in compliance with ITAR regulations.
• Must be able to pass a background check and meet all eligibility requirements for U.S. Government contract work.

Nice to have

• Experience with EMI testing RE 102, RS103.
• Vibration Testing, Experience with GEVs.
• Familiarity with ethernet, serial and or CAN communication protocols.
• Recent participation in projects developing space payload hardware and software, preferably communications systems.
• Experience working with and testing Digitally or electronically steered Phased Array Antenna systems
• Experience working with GSM/LTE/NR communications and cellular backhaul networks

Practical notes

Employees may be required to work from Chantilly, Virginia, USA. This role is eligible for full-time employment. Travel requirements are not specified. Visas are not discussed in this job description. No application deadline is provided.