RF Systems Engineer

Hermeus is a venture-backed defense aviation company reclaiming the lost art of rapid iterative prototyping to build the fastest aircraft in the world today. By prioritizing relentless hardware iteration, we deliver high-speed systems at the pace of the modern battlefield. We work with the Department of War to provide the high-speed capabilities our nation and its allies need to maintain a durable, asymmetric advantage.

As an RF systems engineer you will be responsible for identifying RF hardware requirements, creating system architectures, and building/testing/integrating the RF solutions – both on the aircraft and ground station. This position will require strong fundamentals, wide-breadth design experience, and efficient troubleshooting skills. You’ll be responsible for high-ownership technical delivery while working with a multi-disciplinary team of engineering, manufacturing, and quality professionals.

Responsibilities

• Define RF system requirements, architectures, interfaces, and verification approaches.
• Develop block diagrams, link budgets, interface documentation, test plans, and integration procedures.
• Design, build, integrate, and test RF hardware including antennas, radios, RF modules, cabling, connectors, and supporting electrical assemblies.
• Execute RF testing, including conducted RF tests, antenna measurements, environmental testing, and system-level validation.
• Troubleshoot RF performance issues and drive corrective actions through design, build, integration, and test.
• Support aircraft and ground station integration, ground test, flight test, and off-nominal troubleshooting.
• Analyze RF test and flight data, document results, and communicate risks and recommendations.
• Support regulatory coordination related to FCC, FAA, AFTRCC, and other RF spectrum or flight test requirements.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related field.
• 4+ years of experience with RF, antenna, radio, telemetry, communication, or electrical systems.
• Experience with RF/electrical test equipment such as VNAs, spectrum analyzers, power meters, signal generators, oscilloscopes, and multimeters.
• Strong RF fundamentals, including propagation, impedance matching, VSWR, gain/loss, noise figure, filtering, and link performance.
• Experience developing RF test plans, procedures, setups, or data analysis workflows.
• Strong hands-on troubleshooting skills in lab, integration, or test environments.
• Ability to work cross-functionally and clearly communicate technical tradeoffs, results, risks, and recommendations.
• Bias toward action and willingness to work hands-on with hardware.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree focused on antennas, RF systems, microwave circuits, communications, or related field.
• Experience with L, S, C, Ku, or Ka-band systems.
• Aerospace, defense, aircraft, spacecraft, UAV, missile, or flight test experience.
• Experience with antennas, telemetry, radios, navigation, communication links, or RF instrumentation.
• Familiarity with modulation schemes such as QAM, BPSK, QPSK, or SOQPSK.
• Experience with HFSS, CST, FEKO, ADS, MATLAB, Python, or similar tools.
• Hands-on prototyping skills, including soldering, cable fabrication, and connectorization.
• EMI/EMC or qualification testing experience, including MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-704, MIL-STD-464, or DO-160.
• Startup, rapid prototyping, or agile hardware development experience.
• Ability to travel on short notice for integration, ground test, or flight test support.