About Tachyon
Particle accelerators sit at the center of some of humanity's most important industries. They are used to test spacecraft electronics, manufacture medical isotopes, inspect critical infrastructure, advance fusion research, probe new materials, and explore fundamental physics. Yet despite their importance, accelerator technology has remained largely confined to national laboratories, universities, and bespoke (but enormous) government programs. Tachyon Industrial was founded to change that.
We are building a High Energy Physics Prime, the first venture-scale industrial accelerator company: a vertically integrated business focused on designing, manufacturing, and operating the next generation of particle accelerator infrastructure. First to use them for testing electronics, but eventually to use them to produce antimatter to build propulsion systems to take us beyond low earth orbit.
The Role
We're looking for an RF engineer to own the power side of our RF systems: sources, amplifiers, and pulsed power, from specification through procurement, installation, and commissioning. You'll be the person who makes sure the cavities we build actually get the power they need, reliably, on schedule, and within budget.
This is a hands-on role spanning klystron/amplifier selection, modulator and pulsed power design, waveguide/transmission systems, and the protection and control systems that keep high-power RF safe and reliable.
What you'll do
- Specify, evaluate, and select RF power sources (klystrons, solid-state amplifiers, or other sources) against frequency, power, and pulse requirements
- Lead vendor evaluation and procurement for modulators, klystrons/amplifiers, and associated pulsed power equipment
- Design or specify waveguide/transmission systems, circulators, loads, and RF distribution from source to cavity
- Work on pulsed power architecture (modulator topology, HV power supplies, protection systems)
- Own installation, commissioning, and conditioning of RF power systems on the test stand and first machine
- Build interlock and protection logic in coordination with controls, and troubleshoot power-system failure modes (arcing, breakdown, reflected power events)
- Collaborate closely with the cavity design engineer and beam physicist to ensure power systems meet evolving machine requirements
- Help establish RF power system practices and vendor relationships as one of the first RF hires at the company
What we're looking for
- BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field
- Demonstrated experience with high-power RF sources (klystrons, IOTs, or solid-state amplifiers) in an accelerator, radar, or comparable high-power RF context
- Hands-on experience with pulsed power systems (modulators, HV power supplies, pulse-forming networks, or solid-state pulsers)
- High competence: you have solid grounding in RF/power electronics fundamentals plus real hands-on commissioning experience
- High agency: you are comfortable owning vendor relationships, specs, and commissioning end-to-end without close direction
- Moves fast, with urgency: you treat the schedule as real, not aspirational; default to shipping a working answer this week over a perfect one next quarter, and don't let a problem sit idle waiting for someone else to unblock it
- Creativity under constraint: you find a workable path when lead times, budget, or vendor availability don't cooperate
- Ambition: you want to work on hard, consequential hardware problems
- A collaborative style: this is a small team so how you work with others matters as much as what you build alone
- Courage paired with judgment: you are willing to make and own calls on power systems where mistakes are costly (high voltage, high power), with the judgment to know when to slow down
Nice to have (not required)
- Direct experience with klystron or IOT-based RF power systems
- Modulator design experience specifically (conventional or solid-state topologies)
- Experience with RF protection/interlock systems and high-power conditioning
- Background at a national lab, accelerator facility, radar program, or hardware startup
Why Tachyon
You'd own the power backbone of a machine that's actually getting built — with a real national lab partnership and a real timeline (working machine in 18–24 months). Small team, high ownership, and your systems are what turn cavity designs into a working accelerator.
Our future is in the stars but we won't get there without new physics and machines to tame them. Make your mark at Tachyon on this quest for a more exciting future.