Radio Frequency Engineer

recruyt; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

recruyt is seeking an experienced RF hardware engineer to join a software-defined control plane startup focused on sensing platforms. You will design RF front-ends, perform measurements, and own integration of Wi-Fi, HaLow, and other radios from concept through bring-up.

Join a small, fast-growing team with backgrounds from industry leaders. You will document designs, drive RF performance, and collaborate with EE and production teams to qualify parts for production.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of RF hardware design on production wireless hardware.
• Strong RF fundamentals: transmission lines, impedance matching, S-parameters.
• Hands-on RF measurement and debugging with VNAs and test equipment.
• Experience bringing RF front ends from design to production.

Responsibilities

• RF front-end design: matching networks, filtering, and PA/LNA chains for sub-GHz and Wi-Fi radios.
• Multi-radio integration: Wi-Fi, HaLow, and other radios on shared platforms with coexistence and interference mitigation.
• PCB-level RF design: stack-up, impedance control, RF routing, grounding, shielding, and isolation.
• RF measurement and bring-up: characterize RF hardware using VNAs and related equipment, debug issues.
• RF performance optimization: resolve losses, coupling, impedance mismatches, and interference.
• Production qualification: define RF performance criteria and coordinate with production/test teams.
• Design and IP documentation: maintain schematics, measurement reports, and qualification artifacts.

Skills

RF hardware design

S-parameter analysis

PCB RF design

VNA measurements

Sub-GHz/ISM bands

Project ownership

Tools

VNA

Spectrum analyzers

Signal generators

Power meters

Altium

Job description

Our client is creating a software-defined “control plane” for the physical world. They are starting with protecting American businesses by granting them ubiquitous perception over their physical assets.

To do so, they are creating a connected hardware-software ecosystem on top of multi-modal wireless mesh sensing technology. This allows them to drive down the cost and time of deploying sensors by 10x. Our client's platform will ultimately become the perception engine for a company’s physical footprint, enabling real-time perimeter visibility and autonomous operations management.

This is a chance to join a small, fast growing team who come from Anduril, Tesla, Uber, and the U.S. Special Forces.

Responsibilities

• RF front-end design: Design matching networks, harmonic filtering, and PA/LNA chains for sub-GHz and Wi-Fi radios. Own RF performance from architecture through implementation and validation.
• Multi-radio integration: Integrate Wi-Fi, HaLow, and other radios on shared platforms. Own coexistence, isolation, and interference mitigation across co-located wireless standards.
• PCB-level RF design: Own RF schematic and layout decisions, including stack-up, controlled impedance, RF routing, grounding, shielding, and isolation. Review PCB layouts in partnership with the EE team.
• RF measurement and bring-up: Characterize RF hardware using VNAs and other RF test equipment, perform S-parameter and related measurements, debug performance issues, and drive bring-up of new RF hardware.
• RF performance optimization: Identify and resolve losses, coupling, interference, impedance mismatches, and other RF performance limitations across the signal chain and PCB.
• Production qualification: Define RF performance requirements and acceptance criteria, and partner with the test and manufacturing teams on qualification and production test methodology.
• Design and IP documentation: Maintain schematics, design files, measurement reports, validation results, and qualification artifacts.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of RF hardware design experience on production wireless hardware.
• Strong RF fundamentals, including transmission lines, impedance matching, S-parameters, signal integrity, noise, gain, and linearity.
• Hands-on RF measurement and debugging experience using VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters, or comparable RF test equipment.
• Strong PCB-level RF design experience, including stack-up, controlled impedance, RF routing, grounding, shielding, and isolation.
• Experience designing and validating RF front ends, including matching networks, filters, PAs, and LNAs.
• Sub-GHz or ISM-band experience; 902–928 MHz experience preferred.
• Experience taking RF hardware from design through bring-up, validation, and production.
• Strong project ownership and timeline discipline; you identify risks early and deliver without requiring close follow-up.

Nice to Have

• Multi-radio platform integration and coexistence experience, such as Wi-Fi + sub-GHz, Wi-Fi + cellular, or similar.
• 802.11 standards knowledge, ideally including 802.11ah / Wi-Fi HaLow.
• Experience debugging EMI, EMC, desense, coupling, and coexistence issues in densely integrated wireless hardware.
• FCC Part 15 familiarity as it relates to RF transmitters and wireless hardware.
• Altium or comparable PCB design tool familiarity.
• Experience developing RF production test methodologies and acceptance limits.

You’ll define the RF hardware of a mission-critical sensing platform, shaping the performance, reliability, and range of the system from the ground up. This is a chance to build real, tangible tech - with autonomy, speed, and impact from day one.