Senior RF Engineer
Icarus
· El Segundo
· Feb 9, 2026
Icarus was founded on the belief that the Stratosphere is the Forgotten Frontier and that reclaiming it will define the next era of aerospace and what is possible from the sky. We build solar-powered aircraft that fly at 60,000 ft for weeks at a time, delivering persistent, affordable, and scalable presence from this layer of the atmosphere. Mission Re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere.
Responsibilities:
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Design, build, and fly RF and communications systems for long-endurance stratospheric aircraft
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Own RF subsystems end to end: architecture, link budgets, component selection, integration, test, and flight validation
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Design and integrate radios, antennas, RF front ends, and data links for LOS and BLOS operation
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Drive RF performance through analysis, simulation, bench testing, and flight data
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Lead EMI/EMC mitigation across avionics, power, and payload systems
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Work closely with avionics, GNC, electrical, mechanical, and software teams to deliver robust flight communications
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Support integration, production bring-up, and flight operations in the desert
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We expect full extreme ownership. This is a high-trust, no-BS team, and everyone pulls their weight
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We are hiring across the stack: mechanical, aerodynamics, RF, GNC, electrical, avionics, power electronics, energy storage, software, and systems
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We want builders. No hand-holding. No fluff. No fake projects. No slide decks. No sitting in meetings all day. Just raw engineering, real hardware, and real flight
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You must thrive under pressure, learn fast, troubleshoot in the field, and push hardware to its limits. We move fast. We go to Mojave at 4 am in the morning. We expect results and an obsession with quality and speed
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No tourists. No bystanders. Only builders.
Requirements:
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2+ years designing and deploying real RF systems for aerospace, defense, UAVs, or similarly demanding environments
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Strong fundamentals in RF theory, electromagnetics, and communications systems
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Experience with link budgets, antenna design or selection, RF propagation, and system-level trade studies
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Hands-on experience with RF test equipment (spectrum analyzers, VNAs, signal generators, power meters)
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Experience debugging RF systems in the field, not just in simulation
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Comfort working from first principles and validating performance through test and flight data
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Ability to move fast, own outcomes, and operate with minimal supervision
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Meaningful equity
Apply Now
- Company
- Icarus
- Location
- El Segundo
- Job Type
- Full-time
- Category
- RF / Microwave
- Posted
- Feb 9, 2026
- Source
- Original posting ↗