RF Engineer

Chaos Industries; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401k with company match

Relocation assistance

Annual bonuses

Stock option grants

Free daily lunch

Unlimited PTO

Job summary

CHAOS Industries is seeking a Senior RF Engineer to design, analyze, integrate, and verify high‑reliability RF and microwave electronics for aerospace and defense. You’ll work in a cross‑functional agile team across the full product lifecycle, from architecture to post‑production sustainment.

The role emphasizes hands‑on testing with RF hardware, real measurements, and system tradeoffs. On‑site in Hawthorne, CA, with opportunities to impact mission-critical systems and product quality.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering with 4+ years of progressively responsible RF engineering experience, or a Masters with 3+ years, or a PhD of relevant experience.
• Hands-on experience with RF test equipment (e.g., VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters)
• Strong understanding of RF fundamentals and how they add to system-level performance, including gain, noise figure, linearity, phase noise, stability, and impedance matching
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

Responsibilities

• Design, analyze, prototype, and tune RF circuit boards incorporating catalog MMICs, including LNAs, power amplifiers, baluns, filters, mixers, and associated bias and matching networks
• Perform architecture development and component trade studies to meet system-level RF performance requirements
• Plan and execute RF testing and characterization, including integration and troubleshooting at the board, module, and subsystem levels
• Contribute to the design and specification of RF test equipment, fixtures, and automation
• Collaborate with systems, power, digital, mechanical, and software engineers to ensure RF designs integrate cleanly within larger systems
• Serve as a technical contributor from development through production and post-production, including failure analysis and field support
• Support linear, nonlinear, and electromagnetic simulations using HFSS, ADS, AWR, or equivalent
• Support PCB layout (Altium) and RF stack-up definition, including impedance control, grounding, shielding, and isolation techniques
• Experience with power amplifier design, analysis, and integration
• Experience with EMI/EMC considerations for RF systems and compliance with aerospace standards

Skills

RF design

Antenna integration

RF testing

Simulation tools

Altium PCB

System trade studies

Security clearance

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering

MS with 3+ years

PhD in relevant field

Tools

VNAs

Spectrum analyzers

Signal generators

Power meters

Altium

Job description

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com .

Role Overview:

CHAOS is seeking a Senior RF Engineer to support the design, analysis, integration, and verification of high-reliability RF and microwave electronics for aerospace and defense applications. This role works as part of a cross-functional, agile development team and spans the full product lifecycle, from early architecture and component trade studies through detailed design, testing, production support, and post-production sustainment of mission-critical systems.

This is a hands-on hardware role focused on translating system requirements into robust RF implementations, integrating and troubleshooting prototype hardware, and validating performance through lab and field experimentation. The ideal candidate is comfortable using simulation tools to guide decisions, but is strongest when working with real hardware, real measurements, and real system tradeoffs.
This is a full-time, on-site position in Hawthorne, CA.

Responsibilities:

• Design, analyze, prototype, and tune RF circuit boards incorporating catalog MMICs, including LNAs, power amplifiers, baluns, filters, mixers, and associated bias and matching networks
• Perform architecture development andcomponenttrade studies to meet system-level RF performance requirements
• Plan and execute RF testing and characterization, including integration and troubleshooting at the board, module, and subsystem levels
• Contribute to the design and specification of RF test equipment, fixtures, and automation
• Collaborate with systems, power, digital, mechanical, and software engineers to ensure RF designs integrate cleanly within larger systems
• Serve as a technical contributor from development through production and post-production, including failure analysis and field support
• Support linear, nonlinear, and electromagnetic simulations using industry-standard tools (e.g., HFSS, ADS,AWR,or equivalent)
• Support design, analyze, prototype, and tune RF circuit boards incorporating catalog MMICs, including LNAs, power amplifiers, baluns, filters, mixers, and associated bias and matching networks
• Support PCB layout(Altium)and RF stack-up definition, including impedance control, grounding, shielding, and isolation techniques
• Bachelor's degree inElectrical Engineeringwith4+ years ofprogressively responsibleRFengineering experience, or a Masters with 3+ years, or a PhD of relevant experience
• Hands-on experience with RF test equipment (e.g., VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters)
• Strong understanding of RF fundamentals and how they add to system-level performance, including gain, noise figure, linearity, phase noise, stability, and impedance matching
• Demonstrated ability to analyze, troubleshoot, and resolve complex RFcircuitperformance issues
• Ability to obtain andmaintaina U.S. security clearance

Preferred Requirements:

• Experience with radar, EW, remote sensing, or communications subsystem architecture and performance analysis.
• Experience planning and executing lab and field experiments, including test planning, data collection, and measurement correlation.
• Experience with RF front-end prototyping and integration, including LNAs, PAs, filters, mixers, frequency conversion chains, and antenna interfaces.
• Familiarity with antenna/system integration, EMI/EMC, environmental constraints, and applicable aerospace/defense standards.
• Experience correlating simulation, analysis, and measured data to refine designs and retire technical risk.
• Experience supporting design reviews, customer interactions, verification planning, and transition from development into production.
• Active U.S. security clearance.
• Experience withpower amplifier design, analysis, and integration
• Familiarity with EMI/EMC considerations for RF systems and compliance with applicable aerospace standards
• Experience with mixed-signal or RF/digital interfaces
• Knowledge of manufacturing considerations for RF hardware, including tolerance analysis and yield drivers
• Experience supporting production hardware and fielded systems
• Experience with RF PCB layout best practices and design-for-manufacturing considerations

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 350 employees and counting across 5 global offices

Salary Range: $140,000 - $220,000

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.

EXPORT CONTROLS - This position may require access to information and technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Your responses to the questions below will be used solely to determine your eligibility under U.S. law to receive information and materials subject to U.S. export controls.

#LI-onsite

Please note this position does not necessarily require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

As set forth in CHAOS Industries’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.