Tomorrow.io

Principal Microwave Payload Systems Engineer

Golden, Colorado, United States · Principal

Sponsorship not specified$10k-$15kDetected 20 days ago

LLMsProduct ManagementForecastingSystems EngineeringSignal ProcessingRF EngineeringLeadershipCommunication

About the role

This position requires access to technology that is controlled under U.S. export control laws and regulations.
Tomorrow.io is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer.
Regularly reviewing and adjusting pay practices to align with legitimate drivers of pay, such as job level, geographic location, and performance, demonstrates a commitment to maintaining equity within the organization.

Lead the architecture definition, technical design, and execution of microwave payload systems across the full product lifecycle, from concept development through launch and on-orbit operations
Own system-level radiometric performance modeling, including system noise temperature, sensitivity, calibration performance, and error budgets
Conduct technical trade studies across microwave front-end design, antenna systems, calibration approaches, digital signal processing architectures, and subsystem implementation options
Define and lead calibration strategies to ensure payload performance meets atmospheric sensing and mission objectives
Identify technical risks early, drive mitigation plans, and make informed technical decisions that balance performance, cost, schedule, and mission risk
Support payload integration, environmental testing, verification, launch readiness, and on-orbit operations
Collaborate closely with internal engineering teams, program leadership, external partners, and atmospheric scientists to deliver mission-ready payload systems
Expertise in RF system design including low-noise amplifiers, frequency conversion chains, filtering, and digitization
Ability to collaborate effectively across multi-disciplinary engineering and scientific domains, both internally and externally.
Demonstrated ability to lead through technical credibility and cross-functional influence

10-15+ years of experience developing complex microwave space-based sensing systems
Deep experience in microwave radiometry, MW/RF receiver architectures, or atmospheric sounding instrumentation
Experience modeling and analyzing radiometric performance, including noise temperature, sensitivity, calibration accuracy, and stability
Strong understanding of antenna systems, beam patterns, polarization effects, and scan geometries
Experience with calibration architectures (internal calibration targets, noise diodes, reference loads, or equivalent techniques)
Experience leading assembly, integration, and test of MW hardware systems
Familiarity with space environment impacts on MW/RF performance (thermal drift, radiation effects, stability)
Proficiency with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) or comparable structured systems approaches
Strong understanding of spacecraft subsystems and payload integration fundamentals
Experience performing system-level trade studies and identifying/mitigating technical risks.

The anticipated salary range for this role i s $200-215k subjec t to local market and candidates skills and experience.

To achieve our goal, we are focused on hiring people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.
At tomorrow.io we have established a workplace culture that values fairness and equal opportunities and we believe it is crucial for fostering a positive and productive environment.

This listing is sourced directly from Tomorrow.io's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.