Senior RF Systems Engineer - Mission Formulation at Rocket Lab Corporation
Long Beach, CA
$120,000–$210,000
Jul 19, 2026
Long Beach, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior-level RF engineering role focused on the early-stage formulation and technical development of satellite RF payload systems — spanning communications, radar, and sensing missions — in support of new business capture. Day-to-day work covers link budgets, requirements definition, performance simulations, payload-to-bus interface coordination, and concept development for advanced architectures. Suits experienced aerospace or defense RF engineers holding an active Secret clearance with TS/SCI eligibility.
Senior level · 5+ years · Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA · Bachelor's required · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
Why we read it this way (7)
This role is RF/aerospace systems engineering — not a standard computer/mathematical occupation. SOC 15-1299 (Computer Occupations, All Other) is used as the closest available code; 15-1211 (Computer Systems Analysts) is the runner-up given the systems-engineering and requirements-analysis emphasis, but neither is a precise fit for an RF payload engineer.
The posting covers two levels: Senior RF Engineer I (5+ years required) and Senior RF Engineer II (8+ years required). The overall years minimum is set to 5 (the lower gate). Hiring managers should note the 8-year threshold for the II level.
The hard clearance gate is an active Secret clearance with TS/SCI eligibility — not an active TS/SCI. Active TS/SCI is listed only under 'Nice to Have.' the clearance requirement is set to TopSecretSci to reflect the TS/SCI eligibility requirement as a gate.
All skills under 'These Qualifications Would Be Nice to Have' — including MATLAB, Python, STK, HFSS/CST, phased array design, DSP, SAR/MTI/STAP radar, 5G NTN, and software-defined radio — are marked preferred.
The required skills are intentionally sparse: the JD's hard-requirements sections name no specific tools, only domain experience (RF systems, satellite payload development). All named tools appear exclusively in the Nice-to-Have section.
Ignored 4 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): RF systems engineering, RF link budget analysis, satellite payload development, phased array antenna design.
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
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