5+ years of RF or microwave hardware design experience
Experience designing a wideband RF receiver
Hands-on with multichannel and phase-coherent receiver architectures
Strong understanding of RF system performance metrics
Demonstrated RF board design experience using discrete components
Familiarity with RF simulation and PCB design tools
Responsibilities
Own development of a multichannel RF receive system
Design RF front ends from 300 MHz to 6 GHz
Develop preselection networks, LNAs, and filter banks
Analyze system metrics like noise figure and dynamic range
Architect phase-coherent receive channels
Bring up hardware and characterize performance
Interface receiver hardware with digital processing platforms
Benefits
Opportunity to work with an innovative defense technology company
Work in a collaborative and dynamic team environment
Contribute to cutting-edge RF hardware design and development
Hands-on involvement in the entire design process
Potential for career growth in a growing company
Full Job Description
Senior RF Hardware Engineer, Wideband Receivers - Design Custom RF Systems from the Component Level
Tampa, FL | On-site
Opportunity Summary
Join an early-stage defense technology company developing advanced RF sensing and wireless systems for demanding operational environments. The team designs its RF hardware at the component level, building custom circuit boards around discrete commercial components rather than assembling systems from packaged RF modules.
You will own the receive hardware for a passive sensing platform built to detect wireless activity across a wide range of frequencies in dense RF environments. The challenge is not simply sensitivity. The system must maintain enough dynamic range to detect weak signals next to powerful interferers while preserving phase coherence across multiple channels for direction-finding and geolocation applications. You will take designs from architecture and simulation through layout, bring-up, characterization, and production release.
Job Duties
Own the architecture and development of a wideband, multichannel RF receive system
Design RF front ends covering approximately 300 MHz through 6 GHz within a highly integrated architecture
Develop switched preselection networks, filter banks, LNAs, RF switches, gain stages, mixers, and conversion architectures
Design systems that maintain sensitivity and usable dynamic range in heavily congested spectrum
Analyze and optimize noise figure, linearity, IP3, compression, blocker performance, spurious response, and gain distribution
Develop automatic and programmable gain strategies that preserve weak-signal detection next to strong nearby emitters
Architect phase-coherent receive channels suitable for angle-of-arrival and other localization techniques
Design clock, reference, and local oscillator distribution while controlling channel-to-channel phase and amplitude variation
Develop calibration approaches for multichannel RF paths
Own board-level power architecture and power delivery for RF, mixed-signal, converter, and supporting circuitry
Select and integrate discrete RF components rather than relying primarily on connectorized or prepackaged RF modules
Lead schematic capture, component selection, simulation, and design reviews
Drive RF and mixed-signal PCB layout with close attention to grounding, isolation, impedance control, return paths, and coupling
Bring up new hardware in the lab and characterize performance against system requirements
Interface receiver hardware with high-speed ADCs, RFSoCs, FPGA platforms, and other digital processing hardware
Integrate existing internally developed RF transmit hardware mechanically and electrically where required
Support DFM and DFT reviews as hardware transitions from engineering builds into pilot production
Develop production test approaches and fixtures for RF board validation
Support EMI/EMC troubleshooting and pre-compliance testing
Work closely with FPGA, signal-processing, antenna, mechanical, and systems engineers during integration
Qualifications
BS in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience
5+ years of hands-on RF or microwave hardware design experience
Experience designing at least one wideband RF receiver through working, fielded, or customer-tested hardware
Hands-on experience with multichannel or phase-coherent receiver architectures
Strong understanding of channel-to-channel amplitude and phase calibration
Deep knowledge of RF system performance including noise figure, dynamic range, IP3, compression, spurious response, gain distribution, and blocker tolerance
Demonstrated component-level RF board design experience using discrete LNAs, filters, switches, mixers, amplifiers, and related circuitry
Experience designing custom RF hardware rather than primarily integrating commercial RF modules
Experience with direct-sampling ADC architectures, high-speed converters, or RFSoC-based systems
Strong understanding of RF and mixed-signal PCB design
Experience with tools such as Keysight ADS, AWR Microwave Office, Ansys HFSS, or similar RF simulation environments
PCB design experience using Altium, Cadence Allegro, or comparable tools
Strong lab skills using VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal analyzers, signal generators, oscilloscopes, and related RF instrumentation
Experience measuring and debugging noise figure, gain, linearity, spurious performance, and receiver sensitivity
Ability to move a PCB from schematic through working hardware with limited design spins and an aggressive development schedule
Preferred Experience
Experience with SIGINT, electronic warfare, direction finding, spectrum monitoring, or wireless sensing systems
Background in cellular RF systems including LTE, 2G, 3G, or 5G
Experience with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GNSS, or other commercial wireless technologies
Antenna array experience or close collaboration with antenna engineers on direction-finding systems
Familiarity with angle-of-arrival, coherent array processing, or TDOA-based localization
Experience designing custom RF front ends or frequency converters for SDR platforms
Familiarity with AMD/Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC architectures
Experience with high-speed mixed-signal interfaces and converter clocking
RF power distribution and board-level power integrity experience
EMI/EMC design and troubleshooting experience
Experience taking custom electronics through DFM, production test development, and pilot manufacturing
MSEE with an RF, microwave, electromagnetics, or communications focus
Background in consumer wireless, telecom, medical devices, test and measurement, or other industries developing high-performance RF electronics
