{"id":806382,"url":"https://alion.io/job/icarus-senior-rf-engineer","title":"Senior RF Engineer","company":{"id":678654,"name":"icarus.com","domain":"icarus.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/icarus-3","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"D","score":54,"open_postings":22,"ghost_share":0.773,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-10T05:45:15Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","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":["El Segundo, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":120000,"max":220000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":220000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":2,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-01-30T15:31:30Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-07-31","last_verified_at":"2026-10-10T23:31:17Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":253,"trust":{"level":"ghost","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale","company_stale"],"days_open":252},"description":"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.\nMission\nRe-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere.\nWhat you’ll do\nDesign, build, and fly RF and communications systems for long-endurance stratospheric aircraft\nOwn RF subsystems end to end: architecture, link budgets, component selection, integration, test, and flight validation\nDesign and integrate radios, antennas, RF front ends, and data links for LOS and BLOS operation\nDrive RF performance through analysis, simulation, bench testing, and flight data\nLead EMI/EMC mitigation across avionics, power, and payload systems\nWork closely with avionics, GNC, electrical, mechanical, and software teams to deliver robust flight communications\nSupport integration, production bring-up, and flight operations in the desert\nWhat we’re looking for\n2+ years designing and deploying real RF systems for aerospace, defense, UAVs, or similarly demanding environments\nStrong fundamentals in RF theory, electromagnetics, and communications systems\nExperience with link budgets, antenna design or selection, RF propagation, and system-level trade studies\nHands-on experience with RF test equipment (spectrum analyzers, VNAs, signal generators, power meters)\nExperience debugging RF systems in the field, not just in simulation\nComfort working from first principles and validating performance through test and flight data\nAbility to move fast, own outcomes, and operate with minimal supervision\nWhy Icarus\nMeaningful equity\nTop market salary and bonuses\nHealth, dental, and vision insurance\nFactory in El Segundo\nReal ownership, real hardware, real flight\nSmall team, massive responsibility\nHigh signal (engineering) to noise (management) culture\nDream desk setup\nDaily lunch\nUnlimited celsius\nThis is not a normal engineering job\nWe are pioneers, not corporate managers. Icarus deliberately optimizes for a high signal (engineers) to noise (management) ratio, where engineering, flight, and execution matter more than process, politics, or management overhead\nYou will work side by side with the CEO and a small team of world-class builders. You will own your subsystem end to end. Design it. Build it. Break it. Fix it. Validate it in the desert. Fly it. Then do it again, faster\nWe expect full extreme ownership. This is a high-trust, no-BS team, and everyone pulls their weight\nWe are hiring across the stack: mechanical, aerodynamics, RF, GNC, electrical, avionics, power electronics, energy storage, software, and systems\nWe 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\nYou 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\nYou will be a core executor of flight systems, taking them from concept to reality and driving rapid iteration loops. You will work across design, integration, testing, and flight. If you want real ownership, real hardware, and real flight milestones, this is it.\nNo tourists. No bystanders. Only builders.\nHiring process\nTechnical interview\nOne-on-one with CEO\nMeet the team in-person\nUS salary range\n$120,000 - $220,000 USD\nThe salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Icarus' total compensation package.\nWe’re an equal opportunity employer. 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