RF Equipment and Technologies Engineer (Active & Passive)

We are looking for an RF Equipment and Technologies Engineer (Active & Passive) (E3) to join our Akkodis Aerospace team, working onsite at the European Space Agency in the Netherlands.

Akkodis has proudly supported the Aerospace & Defence industry in the Netherlands for decades. Our partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) has been one of the many success stories allowing our people to expand their career horizons. Akkodis experts are contributing to some of the most important technical advances in Aerospace and Defence which impact the way we live our lives today, through specialised engineering expertise and other required skillsets. This could be your future. Become part of our successful team!

Specific tasks to be performed:

The candidate shall support the Head of the RF Equipment and Technologies Section by contributing to the engineering, R&D, and project support activities related to both RF Active and Passive equipment, components, and technologies.

• Provide expert engineering support throughout all project phases (requirements, design, development, testing).
• Interface with ESA projects and studies to ensure proper technical alignment and documentation.
• Support and perform in-house design, simulation, analysis, data processing, and trade-offs for RF technologies and equipment.
• Coordinate and contribute to hands-on RF modelling and testing in collaboration with the Laboratory Services.
• Support and participate in technical reviews and project meetings.
• Operate, maintain, and improve section software, hardware, and data tools for internal and project use.
• Contribute to the development, validation, deployment, and documentation of internal tools and databases.
• Liaise with technical staff for proper configuration and integration of tools.
• Support the definition and review of technology roadmaps and R&D strategies.

Monitor state-of-the-art trends in RF active and passive domains by attending conferences, gathering literature, and engaging with industry/academia.

• Provide input for documentation, meetings, and R&D reviews.
• Define technical requirements and statements of work for studies and developments to be performed by external partners.
• Review outputs from industry/academia, including coordination of testing in divisional labs.
• Support the ESA Technical Officer in meetings with stakeholders and lead ad hoc technical workshops or reviews as needed.
• Specification, design, development, and testing of passive RF equipment and components (e.g., filters, multiplexers, switches, couplers, I/O sections).
• Performance evaluation and characterisation of passive components, including effects like multipaction, corona, power handling, and PIM.
• Study and application of new materials, coatings, manufacturing methods for passive RF functions.
• Design and integration techniques for complex passive RF assemblies.
• Specification, design, development, and testing of active RF components and systems (e.g., LNAs, PAs, MMICs, RFICs, transmit/receive modules).
• Evaluation of high-power RF phenomena in active components.
• Development of semiconductor and manufacturing processes relevant to active RF technologies
• Integration and packaging of complex active assemblies and subsystems.
• Use of RF modelling, design tools, and calibration techniques.
• Interfacing with other ESA sections (e.g., payloads, antennas, EMC, thermal, QA).
• Support for environmental and standalone testing of RF equipment.
• Participation in ESA Working Groups, workshops, and conferences.
• Support ESA's technology harmonisation efforts and report key achievements.
• Provide regular inputs for section activity reports and ad hoc presentations.
• Actively contribute to internal knowledge-sharing and cross-functional collaboration.

To successfully perform the above mentioned tasks, the following background / experience is required:

• MSc or PhD in Physics, Microwave, Telecommunications, Electrical or Electronics Engineering.
• Several years of experience in the development of RF Passive and Active equipment and technologies ( ), preferably for space applications.
• Several years of experience in using RF design and 3D Electromagnetic tools.
• Several years of experience in Project support activities, managing suppliers and subcontractors.
• Several years of experience in the modelling, evaluation and verification of High Power RF phenomena i.e. Multipaction, Corona, power handling, passive intermodulation.
• Good understanding of space environment and development constraints of RF equipment and technologies for space applications.
• Familiarity with Radio Frequency Payloads and Microwave/Millimeter-wave instruments architectures and technologies.
• Hands-on experience in testing and performance evaluation of RF Active & Passive equipment and technologies.
• A non-exhaustive list of RF equipment and technologies that the candidate shall be able to cover includes both active and passive components. Active RF technologies encompass solid-state power amplifiers, vacuum tube amplifiers, linearisers, low noise amplifiers, complete receive chains, mixers, multipliers, detectors, internal calibration RF subsystems and building blocks, transmit chains, transmit/receive modules, RF front-ends, beamforming networks, highly integrated RF subsystems, and payload input/output RF active sections, including associated design and characterization. Passive RF technologies include filters, multiplexers, Butler matrices, switches, ferrite devices, combiners/dividers, couplers, and payload input/output passive sections, also including associated design and characterization tools.

About ESA-ESTEC

The European Space Agency (ESA) has sites in several European countries.

The European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), has grown into ESA's largest establishment and the technical and organizational hub of Europe's space sector. Missions designed and tested at ESTEC are circling Earth, have landed on planetary bodies and have probed far into the Solar System.

The infrastructure and equipment assembled here, together with the expert knowhow of its 2800 personnel, make ESTEC a unique resource for Europe. The work done here by teams skilled in every aspect of engineering for space has enabled the creation of novel communication, navigation and information services, creating new jobs and growth while improving the lives of European and world citizens.

Please send your CV to as soon as possible