Senior RF Front-End Architect for Space IoT

E-Space Inc.; Arlington (TX); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid holidays

Paid time off

Health and wellness care options

Financial solutions for the future

Optional legal services (US only)

Job summary

E-Space Inc. in Arlington, TX, seeks an expert RF front-end engineer to own the design from requirements through production. You will develop transmit/receive chains, specify RF performance, and guide hardware from concept to fielded product.

This role requires hands-on experience with ADS/AWR, VNAs, and RF test equipment; you will mentor teammates, collaborate across engineering and operations, and help advance our satellite and IoT systems in a fast-paced space environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 7+ years hands-on RF/microwave hardware design experience.
• Experience designing RF front-end hardware from requirements through production release.
• Strong understanding of RF architectures, impedance matching, gain, noise figure, linearity, stability, and filters.
• Hands-on experience with RF circuit simulation tools such as Keysight ADS or Cadence AWR.
• Experience with schematic capture, RF PCB layout review, prototype bring-up, debugging, and characterization.
• Experience with PAs, LNAs, filters, switches, mixers, synthesizers, transceivers, or related RF components.
• Hands-on experience using VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters, and other RF laboratory equipment.
• Ability to correlate simulated and measured results and resolve RF performance problems.
• Strong technical communication and cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong knowledge of satellite communication systems and deriving detailed requirements from system direction.

Responsibilities

• Own RF front-end designs from requirements through production release.
• Develop transmit and receive chains including PAs, LNAs, filters, duplexers, diplexers, switches, couplers, attenuators, mixers, synthesizers, transceivers, and frequency-conversion devices.
• Translate link-budget requirements into RF specifications for output power, sensitivity, noise figure, gain, linearity, dynamic range, bandwidth, EVM, adjacent-channel performance, phase noise, spurious emissions, and efficiency.
• Perform cascaded RF analyses covering gain, noise figure, sensitivity, P1dB, IP3, dynamic range, compression, EVM, phase noise, spurious performance, and link margin.
• Design device-level RF circuits, impedance-matching networks, bias networks, stability networks, power detectors, and protection circuits.
• Select RF components based on electrical performance, power consumption, thermal behavior, size, availability, cost, manufacturability, and reliability.
• Simulate RF circuits using Keysight ADS, Cadence AWR, or equivalent.
• Define RF PCB stackups, controlled-impedance transmission lines, grounding, shielding, component placement, isolation, and critical RF routing.
• Develop architectures supporting TDD, FDD, or simultaneous transmit and receive, as required.
• Analyze transmitter leakage, receiver desensitization, harmonics, intermodulation, oscillator leakage, switching noise, and digital interference.
• Integrate the RF front end with the antenna, modem, baseband processor, ADC/DAC, firmware, power system, enclosure, and thermal solution.
• Plan and perform RF measurements using VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters, noise-figure analyzers, oscilloscopes, and communication signal analyzers.
• Measure and optimize gain, noise figure, sensitivity, output power, EVM, ACPR or ACLR, harmonics, spurious emissions, stability, and efficiency.
• Correlate simulations with measured results, identify root causes of discrepancies, and drive corrective actions.
• Support environmental testing for user-terminal conditions, including temperature cycling, vibration, shock, humidity, and outdoor operation.
• Develop production calibration, test limits, automated test methods, and manufacturing verification strategies.
• Document requirements, analyses, schematics, design decisions, test procedures, results, and technical risks.
• Mentor engineers and technicians and help establish repeatable RF design and validation practices.

Skills

RF front-end design

Schematic capture

PCB layout

RF power amplifiers

Receiver/transmitter architecture

RF test & debugging

RF simulation tools

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Keysight ADS

Cadence AWR

Schematic capture tools

Job description

E-Space Inc. in Arlington, TX, seeks an expert RF front-end engineer to own the design from requirements through production. You will develop transmit/receive chains, specify RF performance, and guide hardware from concept to fielded product.

This role requires hands-on experience with ADS/AWR, VNAs, and RF test equipment; you will mentor teammates, collaborate across engineering and operations, and help advance our satellite and IoT systems in a fast-paced space environment.