Principal RF Engineer

Heaviside Industries; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical, vision & dental

401(k)

Job summary

Heaviside Industries, Inc. in Los Angeles is seeking a senior RF engineer to design complex RF systems and drive prototyping, verification, and field testing across cross-functional teams.

You will optimize front-end interfaces with firmware and software teams, mentor junior engineers, and help transition products from development to manufacturing. A strong background in EM/RF theory and hands-on lab skills is essential.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience designing complex RF systems.
• Background in Electrical Engineering with EM and/or RF theory.
• Hands-on PCB prototyping, bench-up, and RF bring-up.
• Experience with debugging and RF analysis equipment.
• Eligible to obtain US Secret clearance.
• Bonus: PCB design knowledge with Altium and home hardware projects.

Responsibilities

• Design complex RF circuits for passive/active devices.
• Prototype RF product PCBs with engineering teams.
• Platform integration and verification planning.
• Benchtop bring-up with RF/EMI/EMC gear.
• Field testing and results analysis.
• Develop and execute VERIFICATION plans for field testing.
• Plan new products and features; present to stakeholders.
• Assist transition from development to manufacturing.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and software teams.
• Engage with customers to improve RF sub-system performance.

Skills

RF design

EM theory

Schematic debugging

Cross-disciplinary teamwork

Excellent communication

Mentor junior engineers

LNA design

Education

Electrical Engineering degree or equivalent

Tools

ADS

Oscilloscope

RF test equipment

Altium

Job description

ABOUT HEAVISIDE INDUSTRIES

Heaviside Industries builds multi-domain autonomous precision munitions for U.S. and allied special operations and conventional forces. While modern warfare has rapidly evolved with the proliferation of unmanned systems, hyper-precise munitions in contested environments are the future of the battlefield. Economical precision strike capabilities are critical to U.S. and allied war efforts, enabling successful defeat of enemy military assets and infrastructure. Heaviside builds precision munitions designed to operate in GPS-denied and spectrum-jammed battlefields—where traditional systems degrade or fail—without inflated prices or sacrifice to performance.

All engineering and manufacturing is conducted in-house in Heaviside’s Los Angeles, CA headquarters and Oslo, Norway office.

Heaviside is backed by Interlagos, Menlo Ventures, Flume Ventures, Cantos, Anorak Ventures, and Ravelin Ventures.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Design complex RF circuits for passive and active devices
• Work with electrical engineering to prototype new RF product PCBs
• Platform integration
• Benchtop bring-up with RF and EMI/EMC test equipment
• Field testing and results analysis
• Create and execute verification and validation plans for complete product field testing
• Plan new product and feature development plans and present them to stakeholders.
• Assist with the transition from development to manufacturing
• Work with customers to understand how to technically improve RF sub‑system performance
• Work with cross discipline engineering teams (mechanical, electrical, software)

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• 10+ year’s experience designing complex RF systems
• Background in Electrical Engineering with a strong emphasis on electromagnetic, and/or RF theory or equivalent project work
• Hands on experience designing, prototyping, bench‑top bring‑up and probe analysis of RF circuits
• Deep experience working with debugging and RF analysis equipment
• Demonstrable experience designing low size, weight and power RF circuit end products
• Experience designing and bringing a new RF product from concept to market release as an individual contributor engineer
• Must be an expert in multi‑stage conversion chains including Local Oscillators (LO) synthesis and mixer optimization
• Demonstrable experience designing RF products with Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA)and doing multistage cascade analysis
• Hands on experience working simulation tools such as ADS, and other common industry software
• Ability to engage technically with firmware, DSP and other software engineers to optimize the front‑end interface
• Clear and concise written and verbal communication skills to author technical proposals for customers
• History of working with cross discipline engineering teams (mechanical, electrical, software).
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance
• [BONUS] Experience designing PCBs and PCB material sciences with Altium
• [BONUS] Able to discuss in depth any at‑home hardware projects current or past.
• [BONUS] Proven ability to mentor more junior RF engineers.

Additional Information:

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case‑by‑case basis and may vary based on job‑related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full‑time hires, you may also be eligible for long‑term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Heaviside is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Heaviside is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, physical disability or any other legally protected status.