Senior Microwave Electrical Engineer - Beamformer

Assured Space Access Technologies, Inc. is a defense and engineering firm delivering phased array, radar, RF payload, and secure communications solutions to government and prime contractor customers. We are headquartered in Irvine, California. Our Ground Based Radar team is building a mobile phased array radar, and the Beamformer team owns the RF network that connects the array’s transmit/receive modules to the digital receiver/exciter.

Team: Engineering, Ground Based Radar (GBR), Beamformer (BMF)

Location: Irvine, CA (on-site)

Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt

Base Salary Range: $155,000 – $200,000 per year

Clearance: This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. An active clearance is preferred.

Position Summary

As a Senior Microwave Electrical Engineer on the Beamformer team, you will lead the design of the RF distribution and combining networks at the center of the radar. Every transmit and receive channel passes through the beamformer, so its loss, isolation, phase and amplitude matching, and repeatability across many channels drive much of the array’s performance.

You will own the microwave design from simulation through hardware: power dividers and combiners, RF distribution, phase and amplitude control paths, and the multilayer stripline boards that carry them. You will set the technical direction for the RF path and work directly with the BMF embedded and mechanical engineers, the antenna and transmit/receive module teams, and systems engineering. This is a senior, hands-on design seat with real ownership, not a review or integration-only role.

Key Responsibilities

Beamformer Microwave Design

• Design RF distribution and combining networks for the beamformer, including power dividers and combiners, couplers, transitions, and interconnects across many channels.

• Design phase and amplitude control paths, and select and characterize phase shifters, attenuators, switches, and amplifiers used in the network.

• Design multilayer stripline and mixed RF/digital boards, including stackup, via transitions, isolation, and grounding, in close collaboration with PCB layout.

• Develop RF budgets for the beamformer, including insertion loss, gain, noise-figure contribution, isolation, power handling, and channel-to-channel phase and amplitude matching.

Simulation and Analysis

• Build and correlate full-wave and circuit models (for example, HFSS, CST, ADS, or Microwave Office) for network components and assemblies.

• Analyze tolerance, temperature, and manufacturing variation and their effect on channel matching and array calibration.

• Work with systems engineering to flow array-level requirements into beamformer specifications and to report margins and risks.

Build, Test, and Integration

• Bring up prototype beamformer hardware and characterize it with vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and power meters.

• Define beamformer test procedures and acceptance criteria with the test station team, and support production test.

• Support integration with the transmit/receive modules, antenna, and digital receiver/exciter, and drive corrective design changes from test data.

• Document designs, test results, and interface definitions, and present them in design reviews.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field.

• 8+ years of hands-on RF/microwave hardware design experience, including designs you personally took from simulation to tested hardware.

• Experience designing passive microwave networks such as power dividers, combiners, couplers, and transmission line transitions.

• Experience with multilayer stripline or microstrip board design, including stackups, via transitions, and isolation between channels.

• Proficiency with EM and circuit simulation tools such as HFSS, CST, ADS, or Microwave Office, and correlation of models to measurements.

• Hands-on lab skills with vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and power meters.

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship.

• Ability to work on site in Irvine, CA.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in Electrical Engineering with an RF, microwave, or electromagnetics focus.

• Experience with beamformers, corporate feeds, or RF distribution for phased array or AESA radars.

• Experience with phase and amplitude control devices and with channel matching and calibration across large channel counts.

• Experience with high-power or high-isolation RF design.

• Active Secret or higher security clearance.

• Experience moving a microwave design into production with a contract manufacturer.

What We Offer

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage; 401(k) with company matching; and paid time off.

• Professional development support, including training and certifications relevant to your field.

• Relocation assistance considered case by case.

• Hands-on ownership of real scope in a growing defense technology company.

Equal Opportunity

Assured Space Access Technologies, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.