Job Description

Test and Measurement Systems, also known as NI, Product R&D is seeking a Principal Analog Hardware Engineer to join our RF R&D team in Santa Rosa, CA. In this high-visibility role, you will lead the design and validation of high-performance analog and mixed-signal hardware for next-generation, high-frequency test and measurement products. You will shape architectures, make key technical decisions, and deliver manufacturable solutions that meet customer and business needs.

This role is ideal for an experienced engineer who combines deep board-level design expertise with technical leadership. You take initiative, anticipate technical and execution risks, and mentor others while moving fluidly between architecture, detailed circuit design, lab validation, and cross-functional technical influence.

IN THIS ROLE, YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES WILL BE:

• • Serve as the analog technical leader within the RF organization, helping define the discipline's direction, mentoring and developing engineers, fostering technical excellence, and continuing to collaborate and learn alongside experienced senior engineers across the company.
• • Define analog architecture for next-generation test and measurement platforms, influencing system-level decisions that enable advanced RF, digital, and mixed-signal capabilities.
• • Design, simulate, and validate board-level circuits and subsystems, including power distribution networks, high-efficiency power conversion circuits, precision analog circuitry, ADC/DAC subsystems, ultra-low-noise analog supplies, precision calibration circuitry, timing and measurement circuits, and high-speed digital interconnects.
• • Own designs from concept through production release, including architecture development, schematic capture, PCB layout guidance, system modeling, validation, compliance testing, specification development, and release readiness.
• • Develop validation strategies and characterize circuitry using oscilloscopes, power supplies, DMMs, SMUs, and automated test frameworks.
• • Partner closely with Mechanical, RF, Digital, EMC, Manufacturing, Component Engineering, Quality, Business Unit, and supplier teams throughout the product lifecycle to deliver integrated product success.
• • Develop solutions for multiple projects concurrently, balancing technical depth, execution discipline, risk management, and stakeholder communication across active platform and product development efforts.
• • Travel up to 10% domestically or internationally to support supplier builds, customer evaluations, or factory activities.

WHO YOU ARE: Viewed as a key technical resource and often the technical leader for the team. Works on complex issues requiring in-depth evaluation of variable factors; independently determines methods and procedures on new assignments; frequently advises others. Networks with key contacts outside own area; influences decisions to elevate long-term product quality and development efficiency.

FOR THIS ROLE, YOU WILL NEED:

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
• 8+ years of relevant industry experience in analog or mixed-signal hardware design, OR 5+ years with an advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D)
• Strong experience designing, simulating, validating, and debugging analog and mixed-signal circuits
• Experience defining analog or mixed-signal architectures, translating system-level requirements into circuit-level specifications, and making trade-offs across performance, cost, manufacturability, reliability, and schedule
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical activities across component-level, board-level, and system-level design, making sound engineering trade-offs that balance performance, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, and maintainability
• Experience guiding PCB layout for noise-sensitive analog, mixed-signal, power, or high-speed digital circuitry, including grounding, shielding, isolation, and thermal considerations
• Experience validating designs and documenting engineering results through product release
• Proficiency using lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, DMMs, SMUs, etc.
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently in ambiguous technical environments, influence cross-functional teams and stakeholders toward execution goals, and drive complex work to completion
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a diverse, multi-cultural development environment
• Proficiency with industry-standard engineering tools used for schematic capture, simulation, PCB implementation, design analysis, and validation (e.g. SPICE, Cadence, Mathcad, HyperLynx, ADS, and Mentor Graphics, or equivalent tools)
• Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships at all levels of the organization, cross-functionally, and with key people external to the organization
• Authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now and in the future
  • Individuals with temporary visas such as E, F-1 (including those with OPT or CPT), H-1, H-2, L-1, B, J or TN, or who need sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, are not eligible for hire.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS THAT SET YOU APART:

• Experience owning hardware development from concept through production ramp, including DFM, DFT, NPI, and supplier engagement.
• Experience with product concept development, systems engineering, requirements management, risk management, and project planning in complex product development environments
• Experience developing formal verification plans, validation procedures, and compliance evidence for production release
• Experience designing and debugging low-noise, high-precision measurement systems where accuracy, stability, drift, and calibration performance are critical
• Deep expertise performing SI/PI analysis and optimization of complex high-speed, mixed-signal, or RF systems.
• Experience researching, prototyping, and de-risking emerging technologies or new architectures.
• Familiarity with regulatory, safety, EMC, and material compliance constraints such as IEEE, MIL, RoHS, or REACH.
• Experience designing, simulating, verifying, and releasing RF circuits or subsystems using industry-standard tools.
• Experience developing hardware for automated test and measurement, instrumentation, aerospace, defense, communications, semiconductor, or other high-performance electronic systems.
• Proficiency with RF instrumentation (VNA, spectrum analyzers, vector signal generators)
• Programming or automation experience with Python, C, MATLAB, LabVIEW, Verilog, or VHDL
• Demonstrated ability to mentor junior team members in application of analog hardware design best practices
• Experience providing technical leadership across geographically distributed or cross-functional engineering teams.

Our compensation philosophy is simple: we pay a competitive base salary within the local market in which we operate and reward performance through our annual merit review process. The salary range for this role is $139,380 to $232,300 annually, commensurate with the skills, capabilities, and experience each candidate brings.

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No calls or agencies please.