Full-Time

Senior Radio Frequency Engineer

Xona Space Systems

Xona Space Systems

51-200 employees

Delivers precision navigation and timing services

Compensation Overview

$140k - $185k/yr

No H1B Sponsorship

Burlingame, CA, USA

In Person

U.S. citizen or Green Card holder required; travel for off-site testing as needed.

US Citizenship Required

Category
Electrical Engineering (1)
Hardware Engineering (1)
Required Skills
Altium
Oscilloscope
Requirements
  • Understanding of electromagnetic principles behind radio frequency communications.
  • Ability to interpret PCBA schematics and layout drawings.
  • Familiarity with PCB ECAD tools such as Altium.
  • Hands-on experience using electrical/RF test equipment, including multimeters, oscilloscopes, signal generators, and spectrum analyzers.
  • Knowledge of typical performance metrics for RF communications systems.
  • Hands-on experience/coursework with antenna design and/or testing, familiarity with 3D electromagnetic simulation tools such as Ansys HFSS.
  • RF amplifier and circuits tuning.
  • RF design experience in L-Band, S-Band and C Band.
  • Familiarity with RF circuit simulation tools, such as Keysight Advanced Design System or AWR Microwave Office.
  • Hands-on experience with RF test set-ups and calibrations.
  • Ability to analyze and interpret RF test data, and assess performance vs. design requirements.
  • Willing and able to travel to support off-site testing events as needed.
  • Self-starter attitude and proactive in seeing projects from design through implementation.
  • Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and ability to thrive in a fast-paced, cross-team collaborative environment.
  • Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work closely with multidisciplinary teams and external partners to achieve project goals.
  • Compliance with U.S. Government space technology export regulations: applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
Desired Qualifications
  • 3 - 5 years of RF engineering experience.
  • Experience with space RF electronics, with an understanding of multipaction.
  • Knowledge/experience with GNSS systems.
  • Proven RF PCB and/or antenna designs from past work.
  • Implementation of passive or active RF sub-systems whether on the bench or on PCBs.
  • For U.S. Roles: Compliance with U.S. Government space technology export regulations: applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
  • For U.K. Roles: Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks and eligibility to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).
  • For Canada Roles: Security clearance at the reliability status level and pass security assessment for the Canadian Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and ITAR.

Xona Space Systems provides precision navigation and timing (PNT) services using low Earth orbit satellites, delivering secure signals with strong interference and multipath mitigation. Its signals can augment existing GNSS or be used as a fully independent navigation solution, designed for simple, low-cost receivers. The system works by satellites transmitting PNT signals that users receive with inexpensive receivers and combine with GNSS or rely on Xona’s own solution for accurate positioning and timing. The goal is to deliver reliable, high-accuracy positioning and timing at scale for autonomous systems and other intelligent technologies across commercial, government, and defense sectors.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Series C

Total Funding

$336.3M

Headquarters

San Mateo, California

Founded

2019

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Raised $170M Series C in 2025 to deploy 258-satellite constellation rapidly.
  • Topcon and Septentrio agreements enable early 2027 customer coverage.
  • Burlingame factory manufactures more satellites weekly than US annually.

What critics are saying

  • SpaceX Starlink Direct to Cell bundles PNT in 2026, commoditizing Xona.
  • Advanced Navigation's $110M in June 2025 funds GPS-denied inertial tech.
  • SpaceX Transporter backlog delays Pulsar deployment past 2027 coverage.

What makes Xona Space Systems unique

  • Pulsar delivers 100x stronger LEO signals than GPS with cm-level accuracy.
  • Military-grade encryption and authentication resist jamming and spoofing.
  • Compatible with existing GNSS antennas and low-cost user equipment.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Flexible Work Hours

Hybrid Work Options

Parental Leave

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-1%

1 year growth

-1%

2 year growth

-7%
Business Wire
Mar 26th, 2026
Xona Closes $170M Series C to Lead Next Era of Global Navigation

Xona, building the next era of global positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) infrastructure, today announced $170 million Series C funding.

FinancialContent
Mar 26th, 2026
Xona raises $170M Series C to build commercial GPS upgrade with new California factory

Xona, a commercial space company building positioning, navigation and timing infrastructure, has raised $170 million in an oversubscribed Series C round led by Mohari Ventures Natural Capital. Participants include Craft Ventures, ICONIQ, Woven Capital, NGP Capital, Samsung Next and Hexagon. The company is developing Pulsar, a navigation service broadcast from low Earth orbit satellites with stronger signals and military-grade encryption, compatible with existing GPS devices. Over a dozen commercial receiver partners are tracking Pulsar signals, with early customers expected to benefit from coverage by 2027. The funding will accelerate constellation deployment and manufacturing scale-up at Xona's new Burlingame, California factory. At full production, the company aims to manufacture more navigation satellites weekly than the US currently produces annually, deploying its 258-satellite constellation within a few years.

Business Wire
Feb 12th, 2026
Topcon secures early access to Xona's Pulsar LEO satellite navigation service

Topcon Positioning Systems has signed a commercial agreement with Xona to secure early access to Pulsar, Xona's low Earth orbit satellite navigation constellation. The deal positions Topcon amongst Xona's first commercial customers preparing to integrate the technology into high-precision positioning workflows. Pulsar aims to provide centimetre-level accuracy and enhanced signal performance in challenging environments, with built-in protection against jamming and spoofing. Ron Oberlander, head of the Topcon Geomatics Platform, said the agreement reinforces the company's commitment to innovation and positions it for "a new era of high-precision performance possibilities" as LEO satellites come online. Topcon Positioning Systems provides precision technologies for construction, geomatics and agriculture markets. Xona describes itself as a navigational infrastructure company bringing centimetre-level positioning to any device globally.

UASweekly.com
Oct 8th, 2025
Septentrio, Xona MOU Accelerates LEO-PNT GNSS Integration for Resilient UAS

This agreement builds on Xona's recent successful launch of Pulsar-0, its first production class LEO PNT satellite.

AOL
Sep 24th, 2025
Aerospacelab Secures Galactic-Sized Funding: $110M Boosts Bid For Europe's New Satellite Constellation

Xona is developing the PULSAR high-performance network and navigation service, calling it the first satellite positioning, navigation and timing infrastructure in low Earth orbit.