Lead RF Engineer — Rugged SDR & Jamming-Resistant Receiver

Safran; City of Rochester (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Safran Federal Systems seeks a Lead RF Engineer to drive RF and system design for high-resilience receivers in demanding environments, including ruggedization and qualification efforts. You will guide cross-functional teams, mentor engineers, and contribute to proposals and government program deliverables.

You will lead schematic capture, PCB layout, and RF testing, ensuring performance benchmarks are met and design margins are maintained in challenging operating conditions.

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 6+ years of RF and electrical hardware design and validation.
• Experience in RF receiver design and tuning, antennas, and SDR chains.
• Background in harsh-environment hardware, shock, vibration, and thermal.
• Security clearance or ability to obtain one.

Responsibilities

• Lead RF and non-RF circuit design, schematic capture, PCB layout, and modeling.
• Set technical direction across projects and collaborate with other disciplines.
• Support ruggedization, qualification, and field-ready hardware.
• Validate RF test infrastructure and contribute to system-level tests.
• Mentor engineers and strengthen RF design capabilities.
• Develop internal design practices and engineering documentation.
• Contribute to proposals, reviews, and government program deliverables.
• Communicate effectively with cross-functional teams and suppliers.
• Mentor junior engineers in RF fundamentals and debugging techniques.
• Conduct PCB layout assessments for manufacturability and thermal management.

Skills

RF receiver design

Antenna design

Doppler effects

Jamming resilience

MIMO receivers

AGC techniques

SDR signal chain

Harsh-environment design

Education

B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering

Job description

Safran Federal Systems seeks a Lead RF Engineer to drive RF and system design for high-resilience receivers in demanding environments, including ruggedization and qualification efforts. You will guide cross-functional teams, mentor engineers, and contribute to proposals and government program deliverables.

You will lead schematic capture, PCB layout, and RF testing, ensuring performance benchmarks are met and design margins are maintained in challenging operating conditions.