{"id":1302944,"url":"https://alion.io/job/ast-science-service-engineer-service-enablement","title":"Senior NTN Service Validation Engineer","company":{"id":2057930,"name":"AST SpaceMobile","domain":"ast-science.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/ast-science","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":89,"open_postings":245,"ghost_share":0.098,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":115,"computed_at":"2026-10-31T05:58:55Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Lanham, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":90000,"max_usd":169000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":6333},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Lua","optional":false},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-21T00:19:36Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-27","last_verified_at":"2026-10-31T06:02:09Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":71,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":71},"description":"AST SpaceMobile and our global partners are building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network to be accessible by standard smartphones. Called SpaceMobile, this ultra-powerful network is being designed to provide connectivity at 4G/5G speeds everywhere on the planet - on land, at sea and in flight.\nPosition Overview\nWe are seeking a talented and motivated Senior NTN Service Validation Engineerto join the Service Enablement team, owning the RF and system-level correctness of every satellite service pass - from beamforming configuration through link budget validation to post-pass RF/RAN analysis. This role sits at the intersection of RF systems engineering, satellite payload configuration, and ground segment operations, responsible for configuring, validating, and troubleshooting satellite RF configuration against link budget and RF chain requirements, and for tracing anomalies back through telemetry, IQ captures, and LTE/RAN counters to root cause. This person works across ground station sites applying consistent, version-controlled configuration practices, and acts as a Service Enablement feature owner - defining acceptance criteria and KPIs for network/RF features, leading readiness reviews, planning validation from lab through in-orbit test (IOT) to production, and ensuring a clean technical handover to Operations, Service Delivery, and Service Assurance. \nKey Responsibilities:\nLead in-orbit testing and LTE end-to-end validation across the satellite payload, gateway RF chain, and RAN domains.\nOwn technical validation of satellite and gateway configuration files, digital beamforming scaling, DSA settings, frequency plans, ADC/DAC scale factors, and AGC loop parameters against per-pass link budget targets.\nPerform RF and link budget analysis for LEO service passes, including FSPL vs. elevation-angle-dependent scan loss, EIRP and G/T budgeting, and beam pattern and pointing accuracy.\nAnalyze IQ domain captures to diagnose signal quality, calibration convergence, harmonic/interference effects, and beamforming performance.\nTroubleshoot RF, RAN, payload, and gateway issues impacting LTE performance, mobility, handovers, multibeam operation, and customer experience, using telemetry, RF measurements, and RAN counters.\nDefine feature acceptance criteria, RF/RAN KPIs, validation plans, rollout strategies, and production readiness success metrics.\nLead cross-functional technical reviews, coordinating feature execution with R&D, Operations, Service Delivery, Service Assurance, and test teams.\nBuild and maintain custom diagnostic and visualization tooling (RF/telemetry dashboards, beam and spectrum visualizers, IQ analyzers) to accelerate pass analysis and troubleshooting.\nDrive technical reporting, documentation, KPI reviews, readiness assessments, and production handover packages for management and stakeholders. \nQualifications \nEducation:\nB.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, RF Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.\nExperience:\n5+ years of experience in RF engineering, RAN, satellite communications, or wireless systems validation environments.\nPractical understanding of link budget analysis for wireless links, free space path loss, elevation-angle-dependent scan loss, EIRP, G/T, interference mitigation, and RF measurement techniques.\nExperience with IQ domain/DSP signal analysis, including spectrogram or FFT-based inspection, power-vs-time analysis, and identifying harmonic or co-channel interference.\nDeep knowledge of LTE/RAN technologies.\nScripting/automation experience (Python, Lua, MATLAB) for configuration validation, telemetry parsing, and building custom analysis tools.\nProven ability to analyze test results, identify root causes, implement corrective actions, and drive issue resolution across multiple engineering teams.\nExperience leading feature validation, production readiness, rollout planning, technical reviews, and operational handover activities.\nStrong technical leadership and cross-functional collaboration skills, working effectively with R&D, Operations, Service Delivery, Service Assurance, and customer-facing teams. \nPreferred Qualifications: \nSoft Skills:\nStrong analytical and problem-solving skills with high attention to technical detail.\nAbility to work independently while coordinating with multiple engineering and operations owners.\nStrong communication skills, including clear technical writing, concise issue summaries, and stakeholder-ready presentations.\nComfortable leading technical discussions, readiness reviews, and cross-functional alignment for features and service validation.\nComfortable operating in fast-paced test campaigns with changing priorities and cross-time-zone coordination.\nTeam player with an ownership mindset and the ability to drive issues from investigation to closure. \nTechnology Stack:\nLink budget analysis tools and RF measurement equipment.\nIQ domain/DSP signal analysis tooling, including spectrogram and FFT-based inspection.\nPython, Lua, and MATLAB for configuration validation, telemetry parsing, and custom analysis tooling.\nTelemetry and LTE/RAN counter systems for cross-domain root-cause analysis.\nCustom diagnostic and visualization tooling, including RF/telemetry dashboards, beam and spectrum visualizers, and IQ analyzers. \nPhysical Requirements \nAbility to lift up to 25 lbs.\nAbility to use a computer for extended periods.\nAbility to work in an office and lab environment, including hands-on work with RF test equipment and ground station systems.\nAbility to travel to ground station sites to support configuration, validation, and troubleshooting activities as needed.\nThis job description may not be inclusive to the duties and responsibilities listed. Additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time or the scope of the job may change as needed by business demands. \nAST SpaceMobile is an Equal Opportunity, at will Employer; employment is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6279,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Satellite Communications","Satellite Manufacturing","Mobile Networks"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-26T12:21:47Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 12 · green card filings: 3","filings_12m":12,"filings_prev_12m":2,"green_card_filings_12m":3,"median_offered_wage_usd":139833,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":62,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.861,"p_room":0.72,"age_days":71,"expected_fill_days":115,"reasons":["conf:3","velocity","win:mid","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-31T05:58:55Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/ast-science-service-engineer-service-enablement","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/ast-science-service-engineer-service-enablement.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-31T06:16:14Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":9168,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-01T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":2057930},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=2057930"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fast-science-service-engineer-service-enablement"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fast-science-service-engineer-service-enablement"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fast-science-service-engineer-service-enablement"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/ast-science-service-engineer-service-enablement\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fast-science-service-engineer-service-enablement"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":1302944}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"ast-science.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":1302944},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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