RF Design Engineer I

About the role

Inversion builds advanced reentry systems to deliver next-generation capabilities from space. Our mission is to make Earth radically more accessible by turning Low-Earth Orbit into an on-demand logistics domain. We see space not as a destination, but as a platform — one that unlocks unprecedented speed and global reach. Our spacecraft are designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, operating through extreme reentry conditions and landing with high precision. These systems open the door to new ways of testing, delivering, and operating at hypersonic speeds. Inherently dual-use, our technology is built to meet urgent national security needs while laying the groundwork for future commercial applications.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop RF hardware and communication subsystems for flight and ground telemetry applications, including transmit and receive signal chains, front-end architectures, and supporting circuitry.
• Develop and maintain high-fidelity communication link budgets, modeling vehicle-level antenna radiation patterns and simulating RF performance in challenging flight and atmospheric environments.
• Perform trade studies to evaluate and select commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) RF components, including transmitters, transceivers, Power Amplifiers (PAs), Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs), filters, switches, and antennas.
• Support schematic development, board-level design, and integration of RF hardware with broader avionics systems, ensuring performance, manufacturability, and reliability.
• Lead benchtop and vehicle-level RF testing using standard laboratory equipment, bridging hardware with software by supporting live end-to-end telemetry validation.
• Partner with software, guidance and control (GNC), power, and mechanical teams to ensure optimal antenna placement, signal integrity, thermal dissipation, and structural integrity under environmental stress.
• Assist in gathering technical data and generating documentation required for regulatory licensing with bodies such as the FCC, ITU, and NTIA.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field
• 1–3 years of professional experience (or intensive academic project experience) in RF design, testing, analysis, or component engineering
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance up to Top Secret
• Proven experience designing and analyzing RF signal chains and link budgets under dynamic flight profiles
• Foundational experience with electromagnetic and RF simulation tools (such as Ansys HFSS, ADS, or similar) for modeling antenna characteristics, matching networks, or component behavior
• Experience with RF circuit design fundamentals including impedance matching, filtering, gain/noise budgeting, shielding, and signal isolation
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical RF concepts effectively to multidisciplinary engineering teams
• Background in fault-tolerant and failover-capable RF systems design
• Proven ability designing test systems and developing test plans for multidisciplinary systems
• Strong understanding of requirements, systems design, and test methods for space, launch, and/or reentry environments including thermal, vibration, shock, EMI/EMC, and radiation
• Proficient using common laboratory equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, power meters, and data acquisition systems
• Prior work in startups and small independent teams

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field
• 1–3 years of professional experience (or intensive academic project experience) in RF design, testing, analysis, or component engineering
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance up to Top Secret
• Proven experience designing and analyzing RF signal chains and link budgets under dynamic flight profiles
• Foundational experience with electromagnetic and RF simulation tools (such as Ansys HFSS, ADS, or similar) for modeling antenna characteristics, matching networks, or component behavior
• Experience with RF circuit design fundamentals including impedance matching, filtering, gain/noise budgeting, shielding, and signal isolation
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical RF concepts effectively to multidisciplinary engineering teams
• Background in fault-tolerant and failover-capable RF systems design
• Proven ability designing test systems and developing test plans for multidisciplinary systems
• Strong understanding of requirements, systems design, and test methods for space, launch, and/or reentry environments including thermal, vibration, shock, EMI/EMC, and radiation
• Proficient using common laboratory equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, power meters, and data acquisition systems
• Prior work in startups and small independent teams

Skills

• RF design and development
• Communication hardware design and integration
• Antenna integration and radiation pattern modeling
• RF circuit design fundamentals
• High-fidelity communication link budgeting
• Component selection and evaluation
• RF testing and validation
• Software and scripting proficiency (Python, MATLAB)
• PCB layout considerations for RF hardware
• Regulatory licensing and compliance

Benefits

• Competitive compensation package
• Health insurance
• Retirement savings plan
• Flexible work schedule
• Professional development opportunities

Pay

The California annual base salary for this role is currently $77,000 - $116,000. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.

Schedule

This position requires in-office presence.

Contact Information

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