Principal RF/Microwave Engineer

Job description

Kapta Space, a VC-funded early-stage startup in Seattle, WA, is breaking new ground in Geospatial Intelligence. Our technology centers around a proven, scalable electronically-steered radar for sophisticated spaceborne applications such as earth observation using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) techniques, as well as enabling advanced defense missions such as target tracking on the ground and in the air. Kapta is seeking a Principal RF/Microwave Engineer to design, develop, integrate, and qualify RF and microwave hardware for our electronically-steered spaceborne radar systems. This engineer will translate radar-level requirements into high-performance, flight-ready hardware spanning transmit and receive signal chains, RF distribution networks, filtering, switching, amplification, frequency conversion, calibration, and interfaces to high-speed digital electronics. As a critical contributor to payload development, this role operates within a highly multidisciplinary environment requiring engineering trade studies and design decisions across RF performance, DC power, thermal management, reliability, manufacturability, environmental robustness, and overall payload performance. This is a hands-on principal-level individual contributor role with substantial technical authority across design, test, qualification, and production. The ideal candidate combines deep RF/microwave theory with practical design and laboratory experience and has a track record of taking complex RF hardware from first principles through flight-ready implementation. This engineer will lead critical design decisions and reviews, exercise strong technical judgment, and work independently across a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary team. Experience with coherent multi-channel receivers, transmitters, phased arrays, radar, or space/defense hardware is especially valuable. ### Role - Design, develop, integrate, and qualify RF and microwave hardware for electronically-steered spaceborne radar systems. - Translate system and mission requirements into RF performance budgets and hardware specifications including gain, noise figure, linearity, power, efficiency, dynamic range, phase noise, spurious performance, bandwidth, isolation, channel matching, and thermal stability. - Design and analyze RF/microwave circuits and assemblies including amplifiers, filters, switches, mixers, frequency converters, synthesizers, couplers, gain-control elements, clock/reference distribution networks, and high-speed digital interfaces. - Lead component selection, schematic capture, RF PCB design, electromagnetic analysis, grounding, shielding, thermal design, and technical reviews. - Lead prototype bring-up, tuning, debug, characterization, and calibration of RF and microwave hardware using VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, oscilloscopes, power meters, automated test infrastructure, and other specialized RF and microwave test equipment as required. - Collaborate closely with antenna, radar systems, digital, firmware, power, mechanical, thermal, reliability, and test engineering teams to ensure robust subsystem interfaces and successful payload integration. - Drive design-for-manufacture and design-for-test activities, production readiness, supplier engagement, and root-cause investigations to support successful transition of RF hardware from prototype to production. - Support environmental qualification, spacecraft integration, production transition, supplier engagement, and manufacturing readiness activities. ### Required Qualifications - BS/MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, RF/Microwave Engineering, or an equivalent technical discipline. - 10+ years of relevant industry experience designing and developing RF/microwave electronics, with demonstrated principal-level technical ownership of complex hardware. - Extensive hands-on experience developing RF/microwave hardware, subsystems, and RF front ends for high-performance communications, sensing, radar, or related applications. - Expert command of RF/microwave fundamentals including S-parameters, transmission lines, impedance matching, noise, linearity, efficiency, phase noise, spurious analysis, stability, and electromagnetic coupling. - Experience with microwave PCB/package design, controlled-impedance routing, grounding, shielding, isolation, component placement, and EMI/EMC mitigation for high-reliability hardware. - Proficiency with RF/microwave simulation and design tools such as Keysight ADS, Cadence AWR Microwave Office, HFSS, CST, or equivalent, plus schematic/PCB tools such as Altium, Allegro, or OrCAD. - Extensive hands-on laboratory experience with RF test equipment and measurement methods; ability to develop or direct automated characterization and calibration using Python, MATLAB, or similar tools. - Proven ability to take RF hardware through requirements, detailed design, prototype build, bring-up, verification, environmental qualification, manufacturing transition, and system integration. - Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex technical concepts, document design decisions, and collaborate effectively across engineering functions. ### Bonus if candidates have experience and skills in the following areas: - Experience with X to Ka-band or similar microwave spaceborne LEO radar payloads, including SAR, GMTI/AMTI, target tracking, or other advanced ISR missions. - Experience with electronically-steered/phased-array radar systems beamforming architectures, and array calibration techniques. - Experience designing phase-coherent, multi-chip hardware and managing amplitude/phase matching. - Experience interfacing to high-speed data converters and low-jitter clock/reference architectures. - Familiarity with space-qualified component engineering, radiation-tolerant design trade-offs, COTS-to-space conversion strategies, and worst-case/reliability analysis. - Experience with acceptance and qualification testing of space-rated hardware and related standards such as SMC-S-016, GSFC-STD-7000, and MIL-STD-461. - Prior work in small, fast-iteration aerospace teams, defense contracting environments, and/or scaling RF hardware from development builds into repeatable production. Concerned you do not meet all the requirements? Not a problem - please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.