Sr. Antenna Design Engineer

Experience Requirement: 4-6 years

• Design and develop deployable reflectarray antennas for spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payloads, from concept through flight hardware
• Design and optimize the Horn antenna feed system and characterize feed-to-aperture illumination
• Perform full-wave and physical-optics modeling, including periodic (Floquet) unit-cell analysis and full-aperture radiation prediction
• Optimize the antenna for deployment/manufacturing tolerances.
• Work closely with mechanical and structures teams on the folding architecture, stowed/deployed envelope, and surface accuracy requirements for a large aperture
• Analyze and control key performance metrics: gain, beamwidth, sidelobe levels, cross-polarization, and bandwidth, including sensitivity to deployment repeatability and thermal distortion
• Perform engineering calculations and link/aperture trade studies to determine antenna performance from design parameters
• Plan and perform antenna characterization and near-field/far-field measurement campaigns, including verification of deployed performance
• Evaluate vendors and supply chain for antenna fabrication, materials, and RF hardware

• Working knowledge of ANSYS HFSS is required (unit-cell and full-wave simulation)
• Experience with TICRA Tools (GRASP / QUPES / ESTEEM) for reflectarray and reflector analysis is a strong plus
• Solid grasp of reflectarray theory: unit-cell phase response, periodic boundary/Floquet analysis, feed design, and aperture synthesis
• Familiarity with deployable/large-aperture antenna concepts and the RF-mechanical tradeoffs(surface tolerance, panel alignment, deployment repeatability)
• Understanding of SAR antenna requirements (X - band as applicable) and space-hardware constraints
• Hands-on experience with RF lab instrumentation and antenna measurement (network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, near-field/far-field ranges)
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills