RF Engineer. This is what you need to know:
Location: Knoxville, TN (Other office locations may be available)
Salary: Highly Competitive Plus Benefits
Contract: Permanent, full time
Reporting to: Senior Director of Systems Engineering
Your role in the mission:We are seeking a motivated RF Engineer to join our Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) team and take a central role in the design and development of a quasi-optical (QO) transmission line system. This is a hands-on engineering position at the intersection of high-power microwave engineering, optical beam propagation, and fusion system integration.
You will work alongside highly motivated physicists and engineers to design, analyze, and validate the QO transmission line that delivers high-power millimeter-wave beams from gyrotron sources to the plasma vessel. This role offers significant opportunity for growth and requires a willingness to develop expertise across a broad set of microwave and optical engineering disciplines.
- Lead and contribute to the design of QO transmission line components, including waveguides, mirrors, polarizers, and beam shaping elements for high-power millimeter-wave delivery
- Perform Gaussian beam optics analysis and diffraction simulations to characterize beam propagation, spillover losses, and mode purity through the QO transmission line
- Use electromagnetic simulation tools (e.g., CST, HFSS, COMSOL, or equivalent) to model QO component performance and validate designs against system requirements
- Specify and coordinate fabrication of precision microwave components, working closely with machinists, vendors, and metrology teams to ensure design tolerances are met
- Conduct low-power microwave bench measurements to characterize component performance, including beam pattern mapping, insertion loss, and polarization purity
- Support high-power conditioning and commissioning activities for the QO transmission line in coordination with the broader ECH team
- Develop and maintain engineering documentation including design drawings, analysis reports, interface control documents, and test procedures
- Stay current with advances in QO and millimeter-wave engineering and proactively apply new techniques to improve system performance
- Interact with other engineering and physics disciplines including thermal, mechanical, and neutronics
What you'll need:- Doctoral degree/Masters in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, or a closely related field
- Demonstrated experience in microwave or millimeter-wave engineering, including RF component design, analysis, or testing
- Working knowledge of Gaussian beam optics and free-space wave propagation at millimeter-wave or sub-millimeter-wave frequencies
- Proficiency with at least one electromagnetic/multi-physics simulation tool (e.g., CST Microwave Studio, HFSS, COMSOL, or similar)
- Hands-on experience with microwave measurement techniques and laboratory instrumentation (VNAs, power meters, beam profilers)
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate system-level requirements into component-level specifications
- Genuine curiosity and a demonstrated willingness to learn new technical domains; this role spans multiple disciplines and rewards intellectual breadth
- Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively in a multidisciplinary team environment
Preferred Qualifications - Familiarity with high-power gyrotron systems or ECH transmission line architectures used in fusion research
- Experience with QO or antenna range measurements, including near-field to far-field transformations
- Exposure to fusion devices (tokamaks or stellarators) and the role of ECH systems in plasma heating
- Experience with engineering design tools such as CAD (SolidWorks, CATIA) for mechanical integration of microwave components
We offer:
In addition to a basic salary and yearly bonus, you will also get...
- A hybrid work policy
- Stock options
- Relocation allowance
- Insurance plans
- Retirement options
- And many more great voluntary benefits
