RF Test Engineer

RF Test Engineer

Location: Valencia

Reports to: Laboratory Lead & Test Architect

Employment type: Permanent

Workplace model: Hybrid

Employment is subject to applicable security screening (incl. SUPO, where required)

Why this role matters:

As an RF Test Engineer, you’ll capture real signals from real hardware and build the system that plays them back through a channel simulator. ICEYE is building a space-based RF constellation covering 100 MHz to 30 GHz alongside its SAR fleet, and the Experimentation Lab in Valencia is where we develop, simulate and validate that capability.

Our processing, on the ground today and on board from Gen 2, is only as good as the signals we test it against. Today we have some synthetic I/Q, a few captures and a lot of assumptions. You’ll help us build a library of real emitter signals with known truth, plus a way to replay them as a satellite would hear them, with LEO Doppler, delay, path loss and interference, coherently across several satellites at once.

You’ll be one of the first engineers in the lab, with direct influence on how ICEYE builds and proves this capability.

Who We Are

ICEYE is the world leader in sovereign intelligence from space. We deliver persistent monitoring capabilities to detect and respond to changes in any location on Earth.

ICEYE owns the world's largest and most advanced SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation. To our customers we provide intelligence with unmatched quality, latency and revisit times, in any weather, day or night. To governments who choose to operate their own constellation we provide this proven capability as a sovereign system.

ICEYE-built constellations serve customers in defence and intelligence, environmental monitoring, insurance and emergency management. We enable fast decisions that contribute to a safer future.

Founded and headquartered in Finland, ICEYE operates globally with over 1000 employees across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

Your day-to-day responsibilities

• Capture real emissions: bring emitters into the lab (marine radars, AIS and ADS-B transponders, satcom terminals, partner-supplied equipment), operate them in a controlled, screened setup, and record them at the right bandwidth, dynamic range and timing accuracy. Extend this to field and airborne collection.

• Characterise captures: turn raw recordings into library entries with I/Q in a documented format (SigMF or equivalent), measured parameters (PRI, pulse width, scan, chirp, hopping, modulation), metadata and truth, so someone who wasn’t there can reuse them.

• Build the generate and playback chain: specify, integrate and calibrate the RF record and playback system (SDRs, vector signal generators, arbitrary waveform generators and multi-channel playback), from a single emitter up to a dense scene.

• Build the channel simulator path: apply per-satellite delay, Doppler, Doppler rate, path loss, multipath and interference to recorded and synthetic signals, phase-coherently across channels and driven by geometry from the simulation software.

• Develop test hardware and software: fixtures, RF interconnect, switching, attenuation and calibration paths, plus the Python code that controls and automates your instruments, so every measurement runs as a script.

• Feed the end-to-end loop: inject signals into the flatsat, receivers and processing chain, work with the simulation team so RF stimulus and simulated truth line up in time and frequency, and support algorithm validation campaigns.

• Keep operations lawful and safe: work with the regulator, site safety and partners on screened operation, test identities (MMSI, ICAO address) and RF exposure limits for everything that transmits.

What we’re looking for

Must haves:

• Hands-on RF measurement and signal capture experience with spectrum and real-time signal analysers, vector signal generators, SDRs and oscilloscopes, and the judgement to spot a clipped, aliased or contaminated capture

• Experience building or integrating an RF record and playback, signal generation or hardware-in-the-loop test system

• Solid DSP fundamentals: sampling, I/Q, filtering, channelisation, Doppler and timing effects, and how each shows up in a recording

• Python (or equivalent) for instrument control, automation and analysis, with comfort in SCPI/VISA and SDR APIs

• Calibration discipline: reference planes, path loss and phase characterisation, and an uncertainty you can defend

• Clear written and spoken English

Nice to haves:

• Radar, ELINT, ESM or EW background, especially with pulsed and frequency-agile emitters

• Experience with channel emulators or fading simulators (for example PROPSIM or Vertex) or a home-built equivalent, and satellite or LEO link simulation

• Multi-channel phase-coherent systems, precision timing (GPSDO, PPS, White Rabbit) or TDOA/FDOA test

• GNU Radio, MATLAB, UHD, VITA 49, SigMF

• Microwave work above 18 GHz, anechoic and screened-room operation, EMC test

• Field collection campaigns from masts, vehicles or aircraft

• Eligibility for national security clearance (an advantage)

What success looks like:

• 6 months: your first lab emitters (marine radar, AIS) are captured, characterised and in the library with truth, and a playback path replays a capture into a receiver repeatably.

• 12 months: multi-channel playback runs through a channel simulator driven by simulated geometry, supports at least one algorithm validation campaign, and your first field collection is complete.

• 24 months: the processing teams use the library routinely, and a calibrated, automated stimulus chain is part of the end-to-end lab loop.

Working at ICEYE

At ICEYE, you’ll join a diverse and highly engaged team united by the ambition to make the impossible possible. As a global scale-up, we combine speed and ambition with the opportunity to take real ownership from day one. Your growth, wellbeing, and success are a priority, with continuous professional development, training opportunities, and a culture where collaboration is how we win.

Benefits

• Our benefits are designed to support your health and wellbeing, at work and beyond. We keep improving them based on employee feedback, and offerings vary by location. Talent Acquisition will confirm what applies for this role and location during the process.

• Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• We want ICEYE to be a place where people can be themselves and do great work. Different backgrounds and perspectives make us stronger, which is why we work to create an environment where people feel included, respected, and able to speak up. Whatever your background, we want you to bring your authentic self to the table.

• We’re committed to fair, inclusive hiring and equal opportunity. Everyone is welcome to apply. If you need any adjustments or support during the recruitment process, tell us—we’ll do our best to help.