Director of Hardware Engineering – Spaceborne Radar Systems

• BS/MS, or PhD in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent discipline.
• Significant experience developing mission-critical hardware for space and/or defense environments.
• Significant experience as a principal-level individual contributor working with multi-disciplinary engineering teams delivering complex spaceborne hardware.
• Significant experience (~10+ years) in leadership/management of engineering teams across hardware disciplines
• Technical depth in RF/Microwave, Antenna systems, Radar, high-speed digital and mixed-signal electronics and power electronics.
• Experience with PCB design, EMI/EMC practices, and mechanical/thermal packaging for high-reliability hardware.
• Proven success qualifying hardware for environmental and radiation conditions and supporting spacecraft/field deployments.
• Demonstrated understanding of program planning, budget control, schedule execution, risk management, and cross-functional resource management.
• Excellent communication skills, with ability to present to senior leadership and collaborate with customers and suppliers.
• Must be eligible to obtain and hold a US DoD security clearance (TS with SCI).

• Experience with electronically-steered or phased-array radar systems, including beam-steering, calibration approaches and general space reliability.
• Familiarity with space-qualified component engineering, radiation-tolerant design trade-offs and COTS-to-space conversion strategies.
• Familiarity with modeling and simulation tools for RF/antenna, signal/power integrity, thermal/structural analyses.
• Experience with acceptance and qualification test of space rated hardware and related standards such as SMC-S-016, GSFC-STD-7000, MIL-STD-461.
• Experience in defense contracting environments or ISR/target-tracking radar missions.
• Exposure to hardware manufacturing scaling, DFM for high-volume production, or lean development practices.
• Experience collaborating across global supply chains and managing subcontractors.

Concerned you do not meet all the requirements? Not a problem - please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.

U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Kapta Employees must be U.S. citizens, lawful U.S. permanent residents (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State or Commerce as applicable.

Kapta Space does not engage with external recruiters or agencies without prior written agreement. If you are a recruiter (individual or agency) and wish to engage with Kapta Space for talent acquisition, please email hr@kaptaspace.com.

Kapta Space, a VC-funded early-stage startup in Seattle, WA, is breaking new ground in Geospatial Intelligence. Our technology centers around a proven, scalable electronically-steered radar for sophisticated spaceborne applications such as earth observation using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) techniques, as well as enabling advanced defense missions such as target tracking on the ground and in the air.