RF Electronics & Embedded Software Engineer, In-Orbit WPT Demo Mission (m/f/d)

Focus: TerraSpark's first space-to-Earth wireless power beaming payload launches in 2028, and the DC-to-RF electronics, control, and telemetry need to do something recognisably similar to what the WPT Engineer designed on paper. This role owns that transmit chain: power stages, RF front-ends, and control firmware co-designed into the few cubic centimetres available, without melting, oscillating, or arguing with the link budget. You will work closely with the WPT Engineer, Space Systems, Thermal, and Structures to turn the mission concept into flight-ready hardware.

What you'll do:

• Design and implement the DC-RF conversion chain and RF front-end electronics for the demo payload: power conditioning, driver stages, monitoring, and protection.
• Architect compact, integrated electronics at tile/module level that interface cleanly with the phased array antenna and fit within mass, volume, and thermal budgets written by optimists.
• Develop and test control electronics and embedded software for beam shaping and steering, RF chain health monitoring, and safe operating modes, so the payload can be pointed, powered, and politely shut down on command.
• Write and integrate embedded code (C/C++ and/or Python for control and automation) for measurement, control, and telemetry, so that when something unexpected happens we find out from the data rather than the press.
• Define and run lab test setups combining RF and power measurements, characterise how the electronics and control behave under realistic loads, and feed results back into hardware design and WPT system models.
• Work closely with the WPT Engineer on interface requirements (voltages, impedances, dynamic behaviour) so electronics, control, and link design form a coherent system rather than a compatibility exercise.
• Collaborate with Thermal and Structures on layouts, harnessing, and mounting, so your electronics survive launch, vacuum, and extended periods of being shouted at by high-power RF.

What you bring:

• MSc or BSc in Electrical / Electronics Engineering, RF Engineering, or similar, with several years of hands-on experience in power and control electronics, ideally including time spent making RF systems behave (satcom, radar, high-power RF).
• Solid PCB design and layout experience for mixed-signal, power + RF hardware, with a track record of taking boards from schematic to "it works, repeatedly, without heroic intervention."
• Strong embedded programming skills in C/C++ (and/or Python for control and automation), including real-time control, telemetry, and fault handling on MCUs or FPGAs that have flown, sailed close to flight, or at least survived serious lab abuse.
• Experience developing and testing RF or mixed-signal electronics (drivers, detectors, monitoring paths) and confidence using VNAs, spectrum analysers, and power meters to discover what the circuit is actually doing, as opposed to what it claimed in simulation.
• Bonus: familiarity with phased-array or beam-steering control, or any situation where firmware, power electronics, and RF hardware had to cooperate under time pressure.
• A calm, hands-on, calculated risk-taking, collaborative approach. You like working with systems, WPT, thermal, structures, and solar colleagues, and you are motivated by the idea that if your electronics and software don't work, there will be hell to pay.