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Senior RF & DSP Engineer

Vast

Saas

51-200

Long Beach, CA, USA

About the job

Overview:

At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. We are building artificial gravity space stations, allowing long-term stays in space without the adverse effects of zero-gravity. Our initial crewed space habitat will be Haven-1, scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station when it launches into low earth orbit in August 2025. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.
Vast is looking for a Senior RF & DSP Engineer, reporting to the Director, RF Engineering, to execute the development of the RF Systems for artificial gravity space stations. This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.
As a Senior RF & DSP Engineer at Vast, you will work in the area where hardware and DSP meet, developing software defined and FPGA based modems and test systems. Vast employs DSP for space station communication systems, ground stations, as well as component and system level test solutions. You will work directly on the communication systems used to fly humans in space.
Responsibilities:

System and modem level design for crewed spacecraft communication, ground systems, and test.
Work collaboratively with RF hardware engineers, flight software, ground software, and other teams to create and verify performance of communication systems
Create communication system specifications and requirements
Model communication systems and estimate performance in orbital scenarios including artificial gravity generation
Generate excellent documentation and effectively communicating technical information to team members and vendors with diverse backgrounds
Contribute to a culture of extreme ownership by looking beyond the immediate performance of your RF subsystems and understanding its broad impact on other systems, teams, and all aspects of Vast

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelors degree in ECE, EE, Physics, or related STEM discipline
4+ years of experience in an RF engineering role
Experience with RF test equipment such as Spectrum Analyzers, VNAs, Power Meters, Cable Analyzers, etc.
Experience in software development: Matlab, Python, C/C++, or other programming languages
Familiarity with RF communication system design & analysis

Preferred Skills & Experience:

Ms or PhD in ECE, EE, Physics, or related stem discipline
Mission oriented mindset with a strong desire for team success
Comfortable communicating deeply technical topics to a wide variety of audiences
Experience with software development in: Matlab, Python, C/C++, etc.
Proficient with software defined radio development in GNU Radio
Experience with embedded programming for MCUs and/or FPGAs
Understanding of RF modulation and media access control schemes such as BPSK, SOQPSK, GMSK, APSK, TDMA, FDMA, etc
Understanding of communication system coding and error correction schemes such as Reed Solomon, LDPC, BCH, etc
Familiar with common space communications interoperability standards such as CCSDS and DVB-S2
Experience with RF test equipment such as Spectrum Analyzers, Vector Network Analyzers, Signal Generators, Communications Test Systems, Power Meters, etc
Experience with Ethernet and IP networking, VPNs, TCP, UDP, L2/L3 switches, VLANs, etc
Experience with serial communication protocols such as CAN, SPI, and I2C, RS-422/485
Strong sense of accountability and integrity with excellent written and verbal communication skills
Ability to thrive at an early-stage startup where you will have the opportunity to help define the way engineering is carried out while doing your own development work