Principal RF Engineer

IC Resources; West of England; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

IC Resources is recruiting for a Principal RF Engineer in Bristol. The role is hybrid with a minimum of 3 days onsite and requires eligibility for UK SC clearance.

You will own RF and mixed-signal hardware from initial architecture through schematic design, PCB implementation, bring-up and validation, across the full RF signal chain including antennas, amplifiers, filters and high-speed ADC/DAC integration.

Qualifications

• Experience designing complete RF or mixed-signal boards.
• Hands-on hardware bring-up and test.
• Familiarity with RF performance metrics.
• Experience with SDR/FPGA platforms desirable but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Own RF and mixed-signal hardware from architecture to bring-up.
• Design RF front-end, mixer, amplifiers, filters, and antennas interfaces.
• Implement multi-layer RF PCB and schematic design.
• Perform hardware bring-up and debugging with lab equipment.
• Collaborate with FPGA, embedded software and signal processing teams.

Skills

RF analogue hardware design

High-speed ADC/DAC integration

RF layout and signal integrity

Impedance control and grounding

Mixed-signal hardware design

Tools

Altium

KiCad

Job description

Our client is a fast-growing UK engineering business developing advanced RF, sensing and communications technology for demanding operational environments. Based in Bristol, the role operates on a hybrid basis with a minimum of 3 days per week onsite. Candidates must also be eligible for UK SC clearance.

The role

As a Principal RF Engineer, you will take ownership of RF and mixed-signal hardware from initial architecture through schematic design, PCB implementation, bring-up and validation.

You will work across the full RF signal chain, including antenna interfaces, amplification, filtering, frequency conversion, signal conditioning and high-speed ADC/DAC integration.

The Principal RF Engineer will also work closely with FPGA, embedded software and signal-processing engineers, ensuring the hardware delivers the required system-level performance.

Typical work will include:

• RF front-end and signal-chain design
• Mixed-signal hardware incorporating high-speed ADCs and DACs
• Multi-layer RF PCB and schematic design
• RF component selection and integration
• Hardware bring-up, debugging and optimisation
• RF performance measurement using VNAs, spectrum analysers, signal generators and oscilloscopes
• Integration with FPGA and SDR platforms

What they are looking for

Our client is looking for an experienced RF engineer who has designed complete RF or mixed-signal boards rather than working solely at system or simulation level.

You should have strong experience with:

• RF analogue hardware and signal-chain design
• Mixers, amplifiers, filters, oscillators and gain stages
• High-speed ADC/DAC integration
• RF and mixed-signal PCB design using Altium, KiCad or similar
• RF layout, impedance control, grounding, isolation and signal integrity
• Hardware bring-up and laboratory debugging
• RF performance metrics including gain, noise figure, bandwidth and dynamic range

Experience with SDR, FPGA/Zynq platforms, sensing, electronic warfare, communications or low-SWaP systems would be useful, but is not essential.

Why consider it?

This is a genuinely hands-on Principal RF Engineer position with significant technical ownership.

You will be working on complex RF hardware that needs to operate reliably outside controlled laboratory environments, while remaining close to the design, build and test work.

The company has strong engineering and manufacturing capability in Bristol, with RF, FPGA, embedded and signal-processing engineers working closely together.

The role is hybrid, with a minimum of 3 days per week onsite in Bristol, and candidates must be eligible for UK SC clearance.