Senior Phased Array RF Front-End Architect, Amazon Leo Antenna Team

Job Title

Senior Phased Array RF Front-End Architect, Amazon Leo Antenna Team

Role Summary

Owner of the phased array RF front-end architecture for Amazon Leo’s Direct-to-Device (cellular-band) and Broadband (Ka-band) satellite payloads. The role sits on the Payload Architecture team in San Diego and coordinates RF, beamforming, silicon, antenna, thermal, power, and verification teams.

This is a hands-on, cross-program role: define RF front-end requirements, run trade studies on semiconductor/process choices, validate designs in the lab, and support on-orbit operations and debugging.

Experience Level

Senior - requires 7+ years of experience in RF front-end or phased array architecture for wireless, satellite, or defense applications.

Responsibilities

Primary technical and delivery responsibilities for phased array RF front-end architecture across multiple payloads and frequency bands.

• Own phased array RF front-end architecture from antenna element to digital interface for D2D and Broadband payloads.
• Ensure front-end performance across beam steering angles: manage scan loss, active impedance variation, and element-level amplitude/phase consistency.
• Define T/R module and transmit/receive chain architectures balancing performance, integration, process, and radiation tolerance trade-offs.
• Co-optimize analog front end with digital beamforming and DSP (PA linearity/efficiency, DPD/CFR, ADC interface).
• Drive semiconductor process selection and perform trade studies for RF performance, integration, cost, and radiation tolerance.
• Flow down system-level front-end requirements to components and work with verification to validate via test.
• Contribute to thermal and power architecture for RF front-end under space environment constraints.
• Support production, qualification, and on-orbit debug; be hands-on in lab and available for on-call duties.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, practical experience, and program constraints. Preferred items listed separately.

• 7+ years designing RF front-end or phased array architectures for wireless, satellite, or defense (stated in Experience Level).
• Practical experience with RF measurement equipment: power meters, spectrum analyzers, vector signal generators, network analyzers, oscilloscopes.
• Experience in wireless system design, system integration, RF system analysis, and link budget development.
• Experience in semiconductor design work and subsystem/full-chip integration; ability to work with silicon vendors and qualify parts.
• Experience developing RF system simulators or link-budget tools using MATLAB, Python, or C++.
• Ability to define radiation tolerance requirements and work within space constraints (thermal, power, vacuum, radiation).
• Strong collaboration skills to align architecture decisions across systems, silicon, antenna, verification, thermal, mechanical, and reliability teams.
• Hands-on laboratory measurement, debugging, and willingness to support on-orbit anomaly investigations.
• Export control requirement: Candidate must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (Green Card), or lawfully admitted as a refugee or granted asylum.

Nice-to-have:

• Space vehicle/satellite operations or space communications experience.
• Multi-band or wideband RF front-end experience spanning cellular-band and Ka-band or mmWave.
• Experience with phased array scan performance analysis (scan loss, active impedance, element pattern effects) and transmit linearization techniques such as DPD or CFR.
• Experience leading cross-disciplinary technical collaborations.

Education Requirements

Master's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or equivalent practical experience is required. PhD in electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics, or physics is preferred. Equivalent professional experience may be accepted in lieu of degrees.

About the Company

Company: Amazon

Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

Amazon is a global leader in e-commerce and cloud computing, committed to delivering fast, reliable services across diverse sectors. The company's innovative technologies include AWS, Kindle, and Echo, as well as developing low Earth orbit satellite networks for improved internet connectivity worldwide.