Senior RF Engineer — PCB & System Design & Validation

Safran Federal Systems Inc.; City of Rochester (NY); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Time Off

401k Retirement Program with Employer

Tuition Reimbursement Program

Flexible working arrangements

Job summary

Safran Federal Systems seeks a Senior Electrical Engineer with RF design focus to design, develop, and test PCBs and electrical systems for sensitive defense applications. The role requires strong RF expertise and hands-on hardware work across the full hardware lifecycle.

You will lead RF circuit design, validation and integration, ensuring MIL-STD, EMI/EMC compliance, and security-clearance eligibility as needed. Proficiency in Altium, Allegro and OrCAD is essential.

Qualifications

• 4+ years with A Bachelor’s, or 2+ years with a master’s degree, in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a related field
• Experience in RF and electrical hardware design and validation
• Hands-on experience in designing and testing RF systems and subsystems
• Proficiency in electrical hardware design tools, such as Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro, or OrCAD
• Understanding of PCB layout best practices, including high-speed design, EMI/EM considerations, thermal management, RF isolation, and manufacturability
• Familiarity with industry standards and regulations, such as FCC, EL, CE, and MIL-STD testing
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Documented active US Government Security Clearance at the Secret level or higher highly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design, development, build and test PCB prototypes, conduct debugging and troubleshooting to identify and resolve issues.
• Design, develop and test electrical hardware systems and components for electrical systems
• Perform detailed circuit design, simulation, analysis (analog, digital, and/or mixed signal)
• Guide integration, optimization, and troubleshooting the system performance of RF/photonic subsystems
• Support system-level analysis for RF performance, including impedance matching, isolation, noise figure, and signal chain integrity
• Design, simulate, and validate RF circuits including match networks, filters, amplifiers, and interfaces to agile or software-defined transceivers
• Work with counterparts to translate component-level specifications into system requirements, and flag where performance claims won’t translate into full RF performance
• Support qualification and validation of key RF test infrastructure
• Develop and maintain electrical component and hardware specifications and design documentation
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including software engineers, mechanical engineers and manufacturing, to ensure timely delivery of high-quality products
• Work with a cross-functional team of engineers, providing technical leadership across projects
• Collaborate on schematic capture, PCB layout, and component selection ensuring best practices for both RF and mixed-signal performance.
• Develop and execute test plans and procedures to ensure the quality and reliability of electrical hardware systems and components
• Create and maintain detailed design documentation, including schematics, layout files, BOMs (Bill of materials) and test plans.
• Ensure designs comply with industry standards and regulatory requirements, including MIL-STD, EMI/EMC and safety standards
• Develop and maintain relationships with vendors and suppliers to ensure the availability of materials and components
• Collaborate with manufacturing teams to ensure the successful transition of electrical hardware designs to production.
• Stay updated with the latest advancements in PCB design, materials and manufacturing processes to continuously improve product quality and efficiency

Skills

RF design

PCB design

Schematic capture

System integration

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering

Master’s in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium Designer

Cadence Allegro

OrCAD

Job description

Safran Federal Systems seeks a Senior Electrical Engineer with RF design focus to design, develop, and test PCBs and electrical systems for sensitive defense applications. The role requires strong RF expertise and hands-on hardware work across the full hardware lifecycle.

You will lead RF circuit design, validation and integration, ensuring MIL-STD, EMI/EMC compliance, and security-clearance eligibility as needed. Proficiency in Altium, Allegro and OrCAD is essential.