# Product Design Lead

**Company:** [Northwood Space](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/northwood-space)
**Location:** Los Angeles, CA, California
**Role:** Hardware Engineering
**Experience:** 3+ years
**Skills:** Systems Engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, rf engineering, antenna engineering, Embedded Systems, phased-array antennas, satellite communications, radar systems, thermal management, hardware integration, environmental testing, design for manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, root-cause analysis
**Posted:** 2026-08-06

> Leads end-to-end development of complex phased-array antenna products, coordinating multidisciplinary engineering teams from architecture through deployment. Requires a bachelor's or master's degree, 3+ years of complex hardware experience, and deep expertise in a relevant engineering discipline.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Own the technical development and execution of a Northwood antenna system or major subsystem from concept through production and deployment.
- Translate product, customer, and mission needs into system requirements, architectures, interfaces, performance budgets, and verification plans.
- Coordinate development across mechanical, electrical, RF, antenna, embedded software, thermal, manufacturing, test, supply chain, and field operations.
- Build and manage development schedules, technical milestones, critical-path dependencies, and risk-mitigation plans.
- Lead system-level trade studies across antenna performance, structural design, power, thermal behavior, reliability, manufacturability, cost, and deployment speed.
- Drive prototype builds, system integration, test campaigns, root-cause investigations, and production-readiness reviews.
- Contribute directly to design, analysis, prototyping, testing, and troubleshooting within a primary engineering discipline.
- Provide clear updates to engineering leadership on progress, risks, decisions, and resource needs.

## Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, RF Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- 3+ years of experience developing complex hardware, antenna systems, RF products, aerospace systems, or similarly multidisciplinary technology.
- Deep individual-contributor expertise in at least one relevant engineering discipline, such as mechanical design, electrical hardware, RF hardware, antenna engineering, embedded systems, or systems integration.
- Experience owning a complex hardware product or subsystem through design, prototyping, integration, testing, and delivery.
- Strong systems-thinking ability and experience managing technical interfaces and tradeoffs across multiple engineering disciplines.
- Experience turning ambiguous product objectives into requirements, development plans, schedules, and test strategies.
- Hands-on experience building, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting physical hardware systems.
- Strong organization, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills.

## Preferred Qualifications
- Experience developing phased-array antennas, ground station antennas, satellite communications systems, radar systems, or other complex RF hardware.
- Experience with antenna structures, RF enclosures, electronics packaging, thermal management, environmental sealing, cable routing, or electromechanical integration.
- Familiarity with antenna elements, amplifiers, filters, frequency converters, beamforming electronics, calibration systems, and RF distribution networks.
- Experience taking a hardware product from early architecture through qualification, production, installation, and field operation.
- Experience with environmental testing, design for manufacturing, supplier management, and production-readiness processes.
- Track record of resolving complex integration issues across mechanical, electrical, RF, embedded, and software boundaries.

## Compensation and Benefits
- The posting does not specify compensation or benefits.

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