Senior RF Hardware Engineer

About the Team:

The Avionics team is responsible for the full lifecycle of Terran R’s nervous system, designing, building, testing, installing, and operating the hardware that connects and controls every major electrical system on the vehicle and ground. The team leverages close partnership between avionics design, manufacturing, and test to enable rapid iteration and feedback loops. Engineers are deeply embedded into other functions within Relativity, working closely with propulsion, GNC, fluids, and stage engineering teams to ensure seamless integration and operation. Now is a unique time to join: you’ll get to help shape Terran R's fundamental avionics architecture and be given a high degree of ownership on components that will fly.

About the Role:

In this role you will be responsible for owning the development, test and integration of GPS-based navigation system avionics used within the Terran R launch vehicle. You will work with cross-functional partner teams across the company, conducting architectural trades, developing acceptance and qualification test plans, while being responsible for critical sensory infrastructure allowing for the landing, recovery, and reuse of the vehicle booster stage. Furthermore, you'll help to provide technical guidance across the vehicle's RF architecture - including telemetry downlinks, command uplinks, and antenna system deployment. You'll mentor hardware engineers on RF design fundamentals, review design analyses, and support architectural trades. This cross-system collaboration ensuring that our RF systems work cohesively from design through operations.

About You:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field 
• 5+ years of experience in electronics designed for harsh environments and mission-critical applications such as launch vehicles, spacecraft, aircraft, or robotics
• Experience with hardware bring-up, validation, debugging, and data analysis
• Experience working with highly cross-functional teams (GNC, mechanical, electrical, software, etc.) to develop integrated electronics solutions
• Deep understanding of RF system fundamentals including:
  • Impedance matching and transmission line theory
  • Link budget analysis and RF propagation effects
  • Antenna theory (gain, beamwidth, polarization, radiation patterns)

Nice to haves:

• In-depth knowledge of GNSS receiver systems including PVT calculation, satellite tracking/acquisition, error sources, and RF front-end architecture
• Understanding of RF communication systems including modulation schemes (FSK, PSK, OQPSK, SOQPSK), channel coding, and bit error rate analysis
• Experience in combining data from various navigation sensors (GPS, IMU, magnetometers, altimeters, LiDAR, etc.) to achieve robust and accurate navigation solutions
• Experience with high-speed serial interfaces (SPI, PCIe, Ethernet, etc.); memory interfaces; design for SoCs, microcontrollers, and microprocessors