RF Electrical Engineer

ALTEN Technology USA; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

ALTEN Technology USA in Mountain View is seeking an experienced RF Engineer to own the wireless links—LTE/5G, GNSS, ISM datalinks, Wi-Fi/BLE, ADS-B, and radar—across our M3 aircraft, docks, and portals, keeping them robust in dense urban environments.

You will define RF architecture, select radios and antennas, review RF front-end circuitry, integrate antennas with the airframe, and collaborate with Mechanical and Electrical teams to ensure certification and production readiness.

Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years RF hardware design experience.
• Experience with cellular, GNSS, and ISM radios.
• Proficiency with VNAs and RF tools.

Responsibilities

• Define RF architecture and requirements, including radio selection, antenna placement, and link budgets
• Design and review RF front-end circuitry and PCB layout with Electrical Engineering
• Integrate antennas with Mechanical, optimizing pattern, isolation, and airframe effects
• Resolve coexistence, interference, and desense issues across radios, compute, and power electronics
• Characterize performance on the bench, in chamber, and in flight test; define production RF test
• Support FCC, CE/UKCA, and carrier certification and triage field connectivity issues

Skills

RF design

Link budgets

Antenna integration

RF testing

Cellular radios

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering

Tools

VNAs

Spectrum analyzers

ADS

HFSS

CST

Job description

We're ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.

As part of the global ALTEN Group-57,000+ engineers in 30 countries, we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.

When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you'll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.

Location: On-site in Mountain View, CA with potential for Hybrid
Job Duration: 6 months, with potential extension to a long-term role if candidate is strong in PCB design
Salary: $140-160l

Our client is the first non-military unmanned aircraft company to receive FAA Type Certification (2022) and operate under an FAA Production Certificate. We're seeking an RF Engineer to own the wireless links - LTE/5G, GNSS, ISM datalinks, Wi-Fi/BLE, ADS-B, and Radar - across our M3 aircraft, docks, and portals, keeping them robust in dense urban environments.

Responsibilities

• Define RF architecture and requirements, including radio selection, antenna placement, and link budgets
• Design and review RF front-end circuitry and PCB layout with Electrical Engineering
• Integrate antennas with Mechanical, optimizing pattern, isolation, and airframe effects
• Resolve coexistence, interference, and desense issues across radios, compute, and power electronics
• Characterize performance on the bench, in chamber, and in flight test; define production RF test
• Support FCC, CE/UKCA, and carrier certification and triage field connectivity issues

Required Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering (or related)
• 5+ years of hands-on RF hardware design and integration on production products
• Strong RF fundamentals: link budgets, matching, noise figure, antennas, and propagation
• Experience integrating cellular, GNSS, and/or ISM-band radios and mitigating coexistence
• Proficiency with VNAs, spectrum analyzers, and RF simulation tools (e.g., ADS, HFSS, CST)

Preferred Qualifications

• UAV, aviation, or robotics experience; familiarity with C2 link and Remote ID/ADS-B requirements
• MS in EE with RF/microwave focus; FCC/PTCRB and OTA chamber experience
• Python or MATLAB for test automation and data analysis

Salary Range

• $140,000 - 160,000
• The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy.

Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.

As set forth in ALTEN Technology USA's Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.