Applications Engineer - Principal

Position Summary

MACOM is seeking a Principal Applications Engineer to serve as a senior technical leader for the MMIC Applications Engineering team at our North Carolina facility. This role is focused on customer and product support for GaN power amplifier products, both discrete and module related.

The successful candidate will combine deep RF and microwave power amplifier expertise with strong customer presence, practical lab capability, and the leadership maturity to drive difficult technical issues from initial customer concern through to field-ready guidance.

This is a hands-on principal-level role. The ideal candidate is comfortable leading strategic customer engagements and technical reviews, but is equally willing to get into the lab, configure test systems, debug fixtures, collect data, help build or rework evaluation hardware when needed, and make practical progress under real-world constraints.

Key Responsibilities
• Serve as the senior applications engineering technical authority for assigned GaN power amplifier MMICs and selected module products supported from the North Carolina facility.
• Provide leadership on complex customer issues involving device performance, RF behavior, biasing, thermal operation, matching, stability, linearity, efficiency, ruggedness, and application integration.
• Support strategic customers through technical discussions, design-in guidance, measurement interpretation, troubleshooting, and clear recommendations that enable successful product adoption.
• Lead advanced laboratory investigations, including small-signal and large-signal characterization, pulsed and CW power testing, linearity and efficiency measurements, thermal evaluation, modulated signal analysis, and correlation of customer data to MACOM measurements.
• Develop and improve evaluation boards, test fixtures, reference circuits, application notes, datasheet content, design guidance, and customer-facing technical collateral for GaN PA products and modules.
• Work closely with design engineering, product engineering, product management, assembly, operations, quality, reliability, sales, and marketing to resolve technical issues and improve product usability.
• Mentor applications engineers and help establish practical best practices for GaN PA test methods, data quality, documentation, customer communication, and escalation management.
• Assist with hands-on lab execution as needed, including test setup, fixture debug, RF probing, board-level troubleshooting, and occasional practical assembly or rework activities such as soldering evaluation hardware.
• Represent MACOM as a trusted technical advisor during customer meetings, technical reviews, training sessions, and field escalations.

Technical Focus Areas
• GaN RF and microwave power amplifier products
• Power amplifier operation, bias sequencing, impedance matching, gain compression, efficiency, linearity, harmonic behavior, thermal management, stability, and load sensitivity.
• Bench-level and system-level RF measurements using VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters, oscilloscopes, thermal tools, and load-pull or source-pull systems where applicable.
• Evaluation board design support, fixture development, hardware debug, data review, measurement correlation, and customer application support.
• Product collateral quality, including datasheets, application notes, design guides, test reports, simulation guidance, and presentation material.

Required Qualifications
• BSEE or BSECE required; MSEE preferred.
• Typically 10+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent demonstrated expertise, in RF, microwave, semiconductor, MMIC, power amplifier, module, or high-frequency applications engineering.
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently on highly complex technical challenges and drive them to practical resolution.
• Strong customer-facing experience in a technically demanding engineering environment, including the ability to communicate clearly with expert customers and internal stakeholders.
• Hands-on laboratory experience with RF and microwave test equipment, measurement planning, debug, uncertainty awareness, data integrity, and repeatability.
• Practical familiarity with compound semiconductor technologies, especially GaN and GaAs, including device operation, thermal behavior, reliability considerations, and application-level tradeoffs.
• Willingness to work in the lab and support practical hardware tasks when needed, including troubleshooting, fixture work, and occasional soldering or assembly support.

Preferred Qualifications
• Experience supporting, characterizing, designing with, or developing GaN power amplifier MMICs or RF power modules.
• Background in MMIC design, RF circuit design, power amplifier design, semiconductor product development, product characterization, device modeling, or microwave packaging.
• Experience with high-power RF testing, thermal evaluation, modulated waveform analysis, linearity optimization, ruggedness testing, or customer-specific application debug.
• Experience creating customer-facing technical collateral, training material, evaluation-board documentation, or application guidance for RF and microwave products.
• Prior success in both semiconductor product development and customer-facing applications engineering roles is especially valuable.

Leadership Expectations
• Be recognized as a technical leader by customers, peers, and cross-functional engineering teams.
• Influence technical direction, product support strategy, and engineering best practices beyond the immediate work group.
• Balance urgency with engineering discipline when supporting customer escalations and high-visibility product issues.
• Translate ambiguous customer observations into structured investigations, actionable data, and clear next steps.
• Mentor engineers through example: rigorous measurements, concise communication, practical lab execution, and ownership of outcomes.
• Maintain a hands-on mindset and a team-first approach, including willingness to help with practical lab or bench work when that is what moves the issue forward.

Why Join MACOM ?

This position offers the opportunity to lead applications engineering support for advanced GaN power amplifier and MMIC module products used in demanding RF and microwave systems. The role sits at the intersection of customers, product strategy, design, characterization, and real-world application success.

For an engineer who enjoys both high-level technical leadership and hands-on lab execution, this is an opportunity to shape how MACOM products are supported, adopted, improved, and understood by customers in challenging applications.

RSU Eligible

This position is eligible to receive restricted stock unit (RSU) awards and cash bonuses, solely at MACOM's discretion, subject to individual and company performance.

Benefits: This position offers a comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to:
• Health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Employer-sponsored 401(k) plan.
• Paid time off.
• Professional development opportunities.