Flight Telecom Systems Engineer 2

Job Details

New ideas are all around us, but only a few will change the world. That’s our focus at JPL. We ask the biggest questions, then search the universe for answers—literally. We build upon ideas that have guided generations, then share our discoveries to inspire generations to come. Your mission—your opportunity—is to seek out the answers that bring us one step closer. If you’re driven to discover, create, and inspire something that lasts a lifetime and beyond, you’re ready for JPL.

Located in Pasadena, California, JPL has a campus-like environment situated on 177 acres in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and offers a work environment unlike any other: we inspire passion, foster innovation, build collaboration, and reward excellence.

Responsibilities:

The JPL Communications and Instruments Division performs scientific investigations, advanced technology research, engineering developments and system implementations encompassing space telecommunications, tracking and active remote sensing using electromagnetic waves.

The Flight Communications and Tracking Section provides cost-effective space communications systems, software defined radios, high power RF amplifiers, and power supplies that support primary telecom subsystems and major radar and radiometer science payloads. The section also provides Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) flight equipment, radiometric science instruments, high stability frequency standards and clocks and seismometers for NASA/JPL missions. In addition to flight hardware expertise, the section specializes in collection of and processing of worldwide, fixed site, GNSS data that is processed into clock, atmospheric, and ionospheric GNSS correction metrics.  The section also develops high stability frequency references and clocks for flight and ground applications. 

The Flight Communications & Tracking Section at JPL is looking for a highly motivated and experienced Flight Telecom Systems Engineer II to join their Communication System Engineering and Operations Group. As a member of this Group, you will have an opportunity to be involved in all phases of product development from early concept and mission formulation, low technology readiness specification and prototyping to engineering and flight model development and implementation, functional and environmental testing, and flight operations support. In this role, you will perform complex and varied engineering tasks within the telecom discipline, partnering with senior engineers across all phases of the product lifecycle.

Tasks include but are not limited to:

• Provide telecom system engineering support on various flight telecom subsystems for deep-space interplanetary missions, Earth-orbiting missions, and lunar/Mars relay networks.
• Demonstrate the collaborative, team-oriented approach expected of a future technical leader by proactively supporting teammates, sharing knowledge, and contributing to a positive, safety-conscious team culture.
• Take ownership of assigned tasks and deliverables, communicating progress, risks, and recommendations clearly to senior engineers and task leads.
• Build strong working relationships across the telecom team and with other subsystem engineers, laying the groundwork for future technical leadership roles.
• Participate actively in technical reviews and team discussions, offering sound engineering judgment and contributing to decisions that build trust with senior staff.
• Generate telecom component and subsystem-level requirements, responding to project and flight system needs with appropriate requirements flow down
• Develop and prepare interface agreements between the telecom subsystem and other spacecraft subsystems.
• Conduct system-level link analyses, using statistically-derived link parameters
• Partner with other engineers to evaluate current telecom components, algorithms, subsystems, and end-to-end system performance.
• Conduct software simulations and hardware tests, summarizing results to verify telecom system functionality.
• Contribute new ideas and concepts toward the improvement of existing telecom products and technologies.
• Present analyses and technical results at peer-level design and technical reviews.
• Contribute technical content, data, and graphics to proposal and Concept Study Report (CSR) development efforts.
• Serve as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on concept development teams, applying telecom-specific expertise to devise, validate, and benchmark new approaches to technical challenges.
• Support the tracking and documentation of mass, power, and data volume specifications and allocations for assigned telecom components, under the guidance of senior engineers.
• Perform and/or provide independent review of reliability analyses (worst-case, parts stress, radiation, thermal, structural, etc.) and interface failure mode analysis.
• Draft or update telecom functional description documents, comm behavior manager documents, and other design control documents related to the telecom subsystem such as Interface Control Documents, Requirements Documents, Test Report Documents, Design Description Documents, etc.
• Create detailed test plans, procedures, and reports aligned with V&V objectives
• Support development of verification and validation (V&V) plans under the guidance of senior engineers, helping ensure compliance with system requirements
• Support key spacecraft-level Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) tests such as subsystem functional test, ground-station compatibility testing (with the Deep Space Network, Near Space Network, or other commercial providers), and environmental testing.
• Collaborate with ground station providers including the Deep Space Network (DSN), Near Space Network (NSN), European Space Tracking Network (ESTRACK), and commercial providers (eg KSAT).
• Support mission and concept proposal teams by providing subject matter expertise on telecom subsystem design and formal proposal writing/reviewing
• Provide telecom support to JPL’s concurrent engineering team for rapid design, analysis, and cost of mission concepts (Team X)
• Support preparation and documentation of Engineering Change Requests (ECRs) and waivers, coordinating Change Control Board (CCB) review with guidance from senior engineers.
• Support Hardware Review/Certification Requirements (HRCR) and Certificate of Flight Readiness (CoFR) reviews for flight deliveries of telecom subsystems
• Support the product manager in managing risks, performance error budgets, trade studies, design integration, and maintaining delivery schedules. 
• Serve as a telecom operations engineer supporting flight missions in real time, monitoring telecom subsystem health, performance, and link status across all mission phases (launch, cruise, critical events, and extended operations).
• Support DSN, NSN, and commercial ground station pass planning and execution, including command verification, telemetry acquisition, and link performance assessment against pre-pass predicts.
• Participate in shift-based mission operations coverage, performing real-time and post-pass assessment of telecom subsystem telemetry and flagging off-nominal performance for follow-up.
• Support anomaly response activities for the telecom subsystem, performing root-cause analysis and recommending corrective actions in coordination with the flight team.
• Develop and maintain telecom operations products, including flight rules, standard operating procedures, contingency and anomaly response procedures, and operations handbooks.
• Design, develop, and implement software tools (e.g., Python, Jupyter, MATLAB) to automate telemetry trending, limit-checking, and anomaly detection for telecom subsystem performance.
• Build and maintain dashboards and analysis tools that compare downlink/uplink telemetry against link budget predicts and performance models, flagging deviations for engineering follow-up.
• Capture lessons learned from flight operations experience and incorporate them into updated operations procedures, tools, and training materials for future missions.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Computer Hardware Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Physics or Mathematics with a minimum of 3 years of work related experience, or Master’s degree in a similar technical discipline with a minimum of 1 year of work related experience, or Ph.D in a similar technical discipline with a minimum of 0 years of work related experience.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively across a technical team and build trust with peers and senior engineers.
• Demonstrated initiative and ownership mentality, with a track record of following through on assigned responsibilities with minimal oversight.
• Emerging leadership qualities — such as informally mentoring peers or interns, taking initiative on team tasks, or offering to help onboard others — with a clear desire to grow into a formal technical leadership role over time.
• Demonstrated sound judgment and reliability, as evidenced by an increasing scope of responsibility in prior roles or academic/research work.
• Eagerness to learn, receive feedback, and develop professionally in a fast-paced, team-oriented engineering environment.
• Ability to work independently on assigned tasks under general guidance, exercising sound judgment to select appropriate methods and approaches, and escalating significant risks or roadblocks to senior engineers.
• Ability to analyze complex technical factors and apply engineering judgment to resolve significant problems within assigned scope.
• Demonstrated creativity and innovative thinking in addressing important technical issues.
• Ability to collaborate successfully with other groups, sections, divisions, and organizations, both inside and outside JPL.
• Flexibility to react to frequent changes in plans and excel in a rapid-pace concurrent engineering environment.
• Proven experience designing, implementing, and testing electronic hardware for complex spaceflight systems.
• Proficiency in Python, Jupyter Notebook, and MATLAB for system analysis and automation
• Strong background in RF systems, Software-Defined Radios, digital and analog hardware design, and embedded software/firmware.
• Hands-on experience with RF test equipment such as spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, noise figure meters, bit error rate testers.
• Hands-on experience in testing of systems, including test planning, test procedure development, and data analysis, as well demonstrated ability to understand and debug/troubleshoot complex systems.
• Experience within a multidisciplinary system engineering (telecom systems, radar systems, spacecraft systems, avionics systems) or test team (electrical integration, spacecraft assembly electrical, spacecraft functional or telecom compatibility).
• Experience designing telecom subsystems for space applications, managing the link budget and reducing link uncertainties.
• Demonstrated knowledge of processes that are used to verify/validate the design requirements of systems.
• Ability to support domestic and international travel for testing and mission support.

Preferred Skills:

• Knowledge of Laboratory policies and procedures, NASA policies and procedures, and government regulations across a range of applications.
• Direct experience with flight telecom component development and delivery.
• Understanding of advanced principles, theories, concepts, and techniques in telecommunications including modulation and coding types, hardware including antennas and front-end RF hardware, link design and modeling, networking hardware and protocols, radio testing and test automation.
• Experience with Spacecraft, Planet, Instrument, C-matrix, and Events (SPICE) kernels and toolkit for spacecraft trajectory modeling in support of telecom link analysis
• Proficiency with a range of tools for numerical analysis, electronic design, firmware, embedded software, and/or testing automation.
• Familiarity with requirement tracking and management systems such as Jama.
• Experience in cost estimation for spacecraft components and subsystems
• Familiarity with ground station providers and services including the Deep Space Network (DSN), Near Space Network (NSN), European Space Tracking Network (ESTRACK), and commercial providers (eg KSAT).
• Experience with spectral mask regulations and measurement techniques.
• Experience with multipath and ray tracing analyses for base station rover communication links.
• Experience with development, documentation and execution of radio system tests, including formal validation and verification tracking for fulfillment of requirements.
• Experience designing and testing Software Defined Radios (SDR)

JPL has a catalog of benefits and perks that span from the traditional to the unique. This includes a variety of health, dental, vision, wellbeing, and retirement plans, paid time off, learning, rideshare, childcare, flexible schedule, parental leave and many more. Our focus is on work-life balance, and living healthy, fulfilling lives as we Dare Mighty Things Together. For benefits eligible positions, benefits are effective the first day of the month coincident with or immediately following the employee’s start date.

For further benefits information click Benefits and Perks

The hiring range displayed below is specifically for those who will work in or reside in the location listed. In extending an offer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory considers factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s job related skills, experience, knowledge, and relevant education/training.

The typical full time equivalent annual hiring range for this job in Pasadena, California.

$114,192 - $134,160

JPL is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy or perceived pregnancy, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, protected military or veteran status or any other characteristic or condition protected by Federal, state or local law.

In addition, JPL is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

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