Operates a 3GPP standards-based, cloud-native direct-to-device satellite NTN vRAN connecting smartphones, vehicles and IoT via geostationary satellites, supporting NB‑IoT, Skylo Hub terminals, and MNO/MVNO roaming.
The world still has coverage blind spots. You could help eliminate them at Skylo. Skylo has pioneered a standards-based approach to satellite connectivity. We connect smartphones and IoT devices directly to satellites. No special hardware, no entirely new networks. Just billions of existing devices, suddenly reachable anywhere on Earth. We're not building toward this future. We're already in it. Our direct-to-device service is live on millions of activated devices across five continents, covering more than 72 million square kilometers, in partnership with leading satellite operators, mobile network operators, Tier-1 chipset makers, and OEMs worldwide. And we're just getting started. At the heart of it all is Skylo's commercial NTN vRAN: a 3GPP standards-based, cloud-native platform that seamlessly bridges terrestrial and satellite networks. It's the infrastructure that makes true anywhere, anytime connectivity possible. When you join Skylo, you'll work at the intersection of three markets reshaping how the world stays connected: mass-market consumer devices, automotive, and industrial IoT. Enabling people outdoors and critical workflows in the world's most remote places. This is a rare chance to work on technology that matters, at a company that's already proving it works About Skylo Skylo is a global Non-Terrestrial Network service provider based in Mountain View, CA, offering a service that allows smartphone and IoT cellular devices to connect directly over existing satellites. Skylo’s direct-to-device service is now live on millions of activated devices across five continents, with more than 60 million square kilometers of coverage, in partnership with multiple satellite operators, mobile network operators (MNOs), Tier-1 chipset makers, and OEMs. Devices connected over satellite are managed and served by Skylo's commercial NTN vRAN, featuring a 3GPP standards-based cloud-native base station and core. Skylo provides an anywhere, anytime connectivity solution that seamlessly roams between terrestrial and satellite networks. Our focus is on enabling connected services for people outdoors and connected workflows across three main verticals: mass-market consumer devices, automotive, and industrial IoT. This role can be performed remotely with a preference for candidates located in Mountain View, CA, where we are onsite three days per week. Summary Of How You Will Impact Skylo Skylo is hiring a Principal RF Payload Lead Engineer, who will be responsible for the end-to-end architecture, design, development, and on-orbit performance of advanced RF communications payloads enabling direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity from LEO spacecraft. The Principal RF Payload Lead owns the complete technical solution—from requirements definition and system architecture through hardware delivery, integration, testing, and mission operations support—of a space-qualified phased-array payload integrated with cellular networks and deployed at constellation scale. Remote U.S How You Will Contribute - Define and own the RF payload architecture for direct-to-device services on LEO spacecraft, including phased-array antennas, RF front ends, frequency planning, and waveform selection aligned with cellular standards. - Lead the design, analysis, and optimization of phased-array antennas (e.g., electronically steered arrays) for LEO missions, including beam forming strategies, scan performance, EIRP/G/T, ground coverage optimization, and handover considerations. - Own end-to-end RF and communications link design for LEO space-to-ground cellular connectivity, including link budgets, modulation and coding schemes, Doppler impacts, interference analysis, and regulatory considerations. - Define and manage RF payload interfaces with the spacecraft bus, including power, thermal, structural, EMI/EMC, data interfaces, and command and telemetry. - Lead payload-level integration and test, including functional testing, RF performance verification, over-the-air testing of phased arrays, and environmental qualification for launch and the LEO space environment. - Collaborate closely with cellular RAN and core network teams to ensure compatibility with 3GPP and related standards, including protocol behavior over LEO satellite links and integration with terrestrial networks. - Develop and maintain requirements, specifications, and interface control documents (ICDs) for RF payload subsystems and suppliers; lead technical trade studies and formal design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR). - Provide technical leadership to multidisciplinary engineering teams (RF, antennas, digital, baseband, and software) and manage external vendors delivering RF and phased-array hardware. - Support mission operations and constellation deployment, including payload checkout, on-orbit commissioning, performance monitoring, and troubleshooting of RF and communications anomalies. What We Look For - Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field with emphasis on RF, communications, or electromagnetics. - 8–10+ years of experience in RF and communications systems engineering, including development of LEO satellite communications payloads or space-based RF systems. - Demonstrated experience designing and delivering phased-array or electronically steered antenna systems, including architecture, modeling, beamforming, calibration, and test. - Hands-on experience across the full RF payload lifecycle: requirements definition, design, hardware bring-up, integration, environmental testing, and flight delivery. - Strong background in analog and digital RF design, including LNAs, PAs, frequency conversion, filtering, and end-to-end link analysis for high-performance communication systems. - Proficiency with RF simulation and analysis tools (system-level and EM solvers) and laboratory RF test equipment (VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators). - Deep knowle