Principal Radio Systems Engineer

Intellectual Capital Resources Ltd; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Health cash plan

Pension matching up to 5%

Life assurance

Enhanced family leave

Job summary

Intellectual Capital Resources Ltd in Bristol is seeking a Principal Radio Systems Engineer to take technical ownership of mmWave radio performance—from architecture and modelling through to laboratory verification and field deployment.

You will translate customer requirements into radio hardware specs, define RF front-end and antenna budgets, lead beamforming concepts, and drive lab and field trials with a strong emphasis on reliability and regulatory compliance.

Qualifications

• A relevant technical degree and 10+ years' radio systems engineering experience, including products taken from specification to deployment.
• Strong microwave or mmWave expertise, including link budgets, propagation modelling and performance prediction.
• Working knowledge of phased arrays, beamforming and RF transceiver impairments.
• Practical RF measurement experience, supported by modelling and analysis in MATLAB or Python.
• Familiarity with radio regulatory compliance and the ability to explain technical decisions clearly to customers and colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Take technical ownership of mmWave radio performance from architecture and modelling through to laboratory verification and field deployment.
• Translate customer requirements into radio hardware specifications and establish performance budgets (EIRP, sensitivity, noise figure, linearity, phase noise).
• Define phased-array beam search, tracking and handover for moving platforms.
• Develop link budgets and channel models, assess coexistence and interference, and lead radio test strategy.
• Coordinate lab characterisation, over-the-air measurements and field trials, comparing results with predictions to guide design decisions.
• Provide technical direction on radio compliance and contribute to future product architecture.

Skills

mmWave expertise

link budgets

propagation modelling

MATLAB

Python

phased arrays

beamforming

RF measurement

radio regulatory compliance

customer communication

Education

Relevant technical degree

Job description

Our client is looking for a Principal Radio Systems Engineer to join its engineering team in Bristol, taking technical ownership of mmWave radio performance from architecture and modelling through to laboratory verification and field deployment.

Developing high-capacity wireless communications for demanding mobile applications, our client brings together antenna arrays, radio transceivers, baseband processing and networking. The engineering challenge is making links perform reliably when movement, blockage, interference and changing propagation conditions put theoretical performance to the test.

As Principal Radio Systems Engineer, you will translate customer requirements into radio hardware specifications, define RF front-end and antenna requirements, and establish performance budgets covering EIRP, sensitivity, noise figure, linearity and phase noise. You will also define phased-array beam search, tracking and handover behaviour for moving platforms.

Working closely with hardware, software and test engineers, you will develop link budgets and channel models, assess coexistence and interference, and lead the radio test strategy. This includes lab characterisation, over-the-air measurements and field trials, comparing measured results with predictions to guide design decisions. You will also provide technical direction on radio compliance and contribute to future product architecture.

The key requirements are:

• A relevant technical degree and 10+ years' radio systems engineering experience, including products taken from specification to deployment
• Strong microwave or mmWave expertise, including link budgets, propagation modelling and performance prediction
• Working knowledge of phased arrays, beamforming and the system impact of RF transceiver impairments
• Practical RF measurement experience, supported by modelling and analysis in MATLAB or Python
• Familiarity with radio regulatory compliance and the ability to explain technical decisions clearly to customers and colleagues

This permanent, full-time position combines hands-on engineering with technical authority as a senior individual contributor. Hybrid working is supported, alongside medical insurance, a health cash plan, pension matching up to 5%, life assurance and enhanced family leave.

For more information about this Principal Radio Systems Engineer opportunity, please contact Zac Taylor at IC Resources.