Senior RF Design Engineer
Company websiteastranis.com (Astranis, opens in new tab)
Base salary $170K to $230K
Employer-published annual base salary, USD. Advertised base range in San Francisco, CA
You apply on the employer's own site. Six Figure Work does not handle applications.
- LocationSan Francisco, CA
- WorkplaceWorkplace not stated
- Status at last checkSource accepting applications when checked
- Last checked (19 min ago) · observed since
About this job
Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe – large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military.
With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts. Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization.
Astranis has raised over $1.2 billion from some of the world’s best investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Blackrock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Snowpoint, and employs a team of 500 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.
Senior RF Design Engineer
As an RF Engineer you will be responsible for design, qualification, and procurement of active RF electronics (frequency converters, SSPAs, LNAs, PLLs, etc) in the RF front end of satellite payloads. You will work closely with other mechanical, payload systems, electrical, and software engineers to achieve overall system requirements in your designs.
Role
- Design, simulate, implement, and measure active and passive RF sub-systems at microwave frequencies, including; SSPAs, LNAs, power amplifiers, up/down converters, oscillators, filters, etc.
- Be responsible for hardware designs from requirements definition through manufacturing, bring-up, and qualification testing
- Integrate these systems into the spacecraft by working closely with the rest of the team
- Specify, procure, and integrate third party vendor hardware
- Assist in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring additional teammates to our rapidly-growing team
Requirements
- BS in electrical engineering, physics, applied physics, or equivalent
- Passion for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment and hands-on design and development
- 6+ years of experience
- Deep knowledge of fundamental RF concepts, such as RF circuit analysis, amplifier design, noise, linearity, radio architectures, etc
- Hands-on experience in designing, building, and testing RF hardware for microwave frequencies
- Proven completion of product from concept to production.
- Experience with RF simulation tools (ADS, Cadence, HFSS, etc)
- Experience with PCB design, layout and simulation (Altium or similar)
Bonus
- MS or PhD in electrical engineering, physics, applied physics, or equivalent
- Experience with system in package (SiP), multi-chip modules (MCM), packaged RF hybrids, etc
- Experience developing communications satellite payloads
- Experience designing SSPAs or implementing SSPA-based phased arrays
- Experience with designing high reliability electronics for harsh environments such as space or automotive
- Antennas and Electromagnetics propagation knowledge and background
- Experience with Software Defined Radios and associated skillset (mixed signal, high speed digital)
- Familiarity with Python or other scripting languages used for automating test instruments
What we offer:
All our positions offer a compensation package that includes equity and robust benefits.
Base pay is just one component of Astranis’s total rewards package. Your compensation also includes a significant equity package via incentive stock options, high-quality company-subsidized healthcare, disability and life insurance, 401(k) retirement planning, flexible PTO, and free on-site catered meals.
Astranis pay ranges are informed and defined through professional-grade salary surveys and compensation data sources. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, and the level and scope of the position.
Base Salary
$170,000—$230,000 USD
U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required
(To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))
Our mission and products are built for everyone, regardless of gender, race, creed, or background. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we invite all people to join our team and bring their unique perspectives to make us stronger.
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Source: Astranis on Greenhouse · View original posting (opens in new tab)
Pay in context
This role's base floor ($170,000) is above 72% of the 2,035 Engineering (non-software) roles in California listed on this site; 30 others list the same floor. Their median floor is $146,200; the middle half runs from $124,000 to $173,000.
Only jobs on this site count, and each one publishes a base salary of $100,000 or more, so this compares six-figure jobs with each other, not with the whole market. Computed Nov 6, 2026.
This listingSenior RF Design Engineer$170K to $230K
Sales Director - International Government$170K to $210K
Senior RF/Communication Systems Engineer$170K to $280K
Senior Electrical Engineer- SDR Hardware$175K to $240K
Senior FPGA Engineer$175K to $240K
Electrical Engineering Manager - Software Defined Radio Hardware$180K to $250K
Electronics Engineering Manager$160K to $215K
Chart as a table
| Role | Published base |
|---|---|
| Senior RF Design Engineer (this listing) | $170K - $230K |
| Sales Director - International Government | $170K - $210K |
| Senior RF/Communication Systems Engineer | $170K - $280K |
| Senior Electrical Engineer- SDR Hardware | $175K - $240K |
| Senior FPGA Engineer | $175K - $240K |
| Electrical Engineering Manager - Software Defined Radio Hardware | $180K - $250K |
| Electronics Engineering Manager | $160K - $215K |
Observed changes
- Began meeting the published-salary criteria
- First observed on the employer's board
- Observed since
- Employer-stated posting date
- 2024-03-15
Where this pay comes from
Location as the employer wrote it: San Francisco
USD 170,000 – 230,000 · interval unstated · pay_input_range · Base Salary · base-labelled (R1: Base Salary)
- Method
- Structured pay field published by the employer
- Checked
- Rule set
- us-base-v2
The employer's job board publishes this pay as a dedicated data field. We read the field directly; no interpretation was needed.
What we verified
- The pay figures come from the employer's own listing, quoted exactly above.
- The pay is an annual base salary in US dollars with a minimum of at least $100,000.
- The role was publicly listed on the employer's job board when last checked.
We do not verify what the employer will actually offer, whether the employer is still recruiting for the role, or anything beyond what the employer published. Full methodology.
