Senior RF Test Engineer

Tractor Supply; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

ESOP participation

401k Plan

Tuition Reimbursement

Job summary

Tractor Supply seeks a Senior RF Manufacturing Test Engineer in Huntsville, AL to support the Product Solutions Division. You will own RF test strategy, drive yield improvements, and lead root-cause investigations on complex RF systems used in defense and commercial devices.

The role requires hands-on problem-solving on the production floor, experience with automated RF tests, and collaboration with Design Engineering to ensure robust, repeatable test coverage. U.S. citizenship is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field with 8+ years of hands-on RF/microwave production experience (Master's preferred).
• Troubleshooting complex RF systems in production environments, not just lab development.
• Deep understanding of RF system performance metrics: gain, noise, linearity, phase stability, spurs.
• Experience debugging RF issues tied to layout, grounding, shielding, and assembly.
• Hands-on RF test equipment experience: spectrum analyzers, VNAs, generators, meters.
• Experience developing automated RF test systems using Python, LabVIEW, TestStand, or similar.
• Production calibration, alignment, and tuning of RF systems.
• Strong SPC, yield analysis, and failure investigation background.
• Ability to diagnose issues across RF, digital, embedded, and electromechanical domains.
• Experience transitioning products from development to production with test readiness and repeatability.
• Strong technical communication skills for reviews and customer briefings.
• U.S. citizenship is required.

Responsibilities

• Owns production RF performance, test strategy, and yield optimization across defense RF systems.
• Lead complex production issue resolution including intermittent failures and calibration drift.
• Conduct deep-dive root cause investigations across RF signal chains.
• Diagnose noise, spurious signals, coupling, shielding, grounding, and system interactions.
• Drive transition of RF hardware from development into production with robust test coverage.
• Develop and deploy automated RF production test solutions and calibration routines.
• Optimize test flows balancing coverage, throughput, and false failures.
• Apply statistics to production data to identify yield trends across lots and environments.
• Collaborate with Design Engineering to close gaps in DFT, DFM, and DFC.
• Lead CAPA implementations for systemic production issues.
• Interface with PM, Quality, Supply Chain, and customers to communicate risk and readiness.
• Provide hands-on leadership on the manufacturing floor and bench testing.

Skills

RF/microwave

Production troubleshooting

Test system development

Statistical process control

CAPA leadership

Cross-functional communication

US citizenship

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Spectrum analyzer

Vector Network Analyzer (VNA)

Signal generator

Power meters/sensors

Job description

Senior RF Manufacturing Test Engineer

TSC is seeking a Senior RF Manufacturing Test Engineer in Huntsville, AL to support the Product Solutions Division. This role is critical to the transition and production of advanced RF systems including seekers, proximity sensors, and other mission-critical electronics.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on engineer who thrives in a production environment and excels at solving complex, non-obvious RF issues impacting performance, yield, and reliability. This position is critical to ensuring production test robustness, yield performance, and mission-ready system delivery.

TSC offers a professional working environment, competitive compensation, and a comprehensive benefits package. Join a team where technical excellence and real-world problem solving drive mission success.

Responsibilities

• Serves as the technical authority for production RF performance, test strategy, and yield optimization across defense RF systems including seekers, proximity sensors, height-of-burst sensors, antennas, and RF subsystems.
• Owns resolution of the most complex production issues, including intermittent failures, environmental sensitivities, calibration drift, and unit-to-unit performance variation.
• Leads deep-dive root cause investigations across full RF signal chains, including RF front-end, analog, mixed-signal, and embedded interfaces.
• Diagnoses and resolves issues related to noise, spurious signals, coupling, shielding, grounding, and system-level interactions.
• Drives transition of RF hardware from development into production, ensuring production-representative test coverage, calibration robustness, and repeatability across builds.
• Develops and deploys advanced RF production test solutions, including automated test systems, alignment/calibration routines, and system-level validation methods.
• Optimizes production test flows to balance test coverage, throughput, and false failure reduction, while maintaining mission-critical performance requirements.
• Drives reduction of test escapes and false failures through improved test coverage, limits, and methodologies.
• Applies statistical analysis to production data to identify trends in yield loss, drift, and performance variation across lots, builds, and environments.
• Partners with Design Engineering to close gaps in design for test (DFT), design for manufacturability (DFM), and design for calibration (DFC).
• Leads implementation of corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) for systemic production issues.
• Interfaces with Program Management, Quality, Supply Chain, and customers to communicate technical risk, readiness, and production performance.
• Provides hands-on technical leadership on the manufacturing floor and at the bench, supporting test stations, troubleshooting efforts, and engineering builds.
• Mentors engineers and technicians in RF debugging, measurement techniques, and production best practices.
• Expected to independently diagnose issues where RF performance deviates from design intent with no clear failure mode or repeatability.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field with 8+ years of hands-on RF/microwave production experience (Master's preferred)
• Demonstrated expertise troubleshooting complex RF systems in production environments, not just lab development
• Deep understanding of RF system performance including: gain/loss/dynamic range, noise figure and sensitivity, linearity and compression, phase noise and stability, and spurious/interference mechanisms
• Strong experience debugging RF issues tied to mechanical layout, grounding, shielding, and assembly variation
• Extensive hands-on experience with RF test equipment: spectrum analyzers, vector network analyzers (VNA s ), signal generators, power meters/sensors
• Experience developing automated RF test systems using Python, LabVIEW, TestStand , or similar frameworks
• Experience with production calibration, alignment, and tuning of RF systems
• Strong background in statistical process control (SPC), yield analysis, and failure investigation
• Proven ability to diagnose issues spanning RF, digital, embedded, and electromechanical domains
• Experience transitioning products from development to production with emphasis on test readiness, documentation completeness, and process repeatability
• Strong technical communication skills; able to lead technical reviews, failure investigations, and customer briefings
• U.S. citizenship required

TSC Benefits

• TSC offers a stable work environment, a competitive salary, and a comprehensive benefit package; including ESOP participation, 401k Plan, Flexible Work Schedules, Tuition Reimbursement, Co-sponsored Health Plan, Paid Leave and much more.