RF Designer

Fidus Systems

55d•Remote

About The Position

The RF Designer owns complete RF subsystems on Fidus client programs — from the antenna port through the front-end, frequency conversion and data converters, that present into the DSP and/or FPGA fabric. You will set the RF architecture, build the frequency and sampling plans, design and model the transmit and receive lineups, and prove the performance on the bench, working at microwave frequencies up to 40 GHz. This role suits an RF designer who has carried subsystems from architecture to characterized, manufacturable hardware, is ready to be the RF authority on a cross-functional team, and works directly with customers — taking pride in designs rigorously modeled before build and rigorously measured after.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent.
8+ years designing RF and wireless hardware
Familiarity with FDD and TDD techniques
Experience interacting with FPGA, DSP, PCB Layout, and Signal Integrity designers
Signal source and clocking design: PLL topology and loop filter design, VCO/DRO and LO multiplier specification, TCXO and VCXO selection, and phase noise and jitter specification and measurement.
Filter and microwave component fluency — technology selection across printed, SAW/BAW/FBAR, ceramic resonator, discrete L/C, waveguide and cavity, plus circulators, isolators, couplers, dividers and hybrids — and experience specifying custom parts with vendors.
Antenna familiarity: selection, interface specification and vendor management. Antenna element or array design is not required for this role.
Expert-level use of RF modeling and simulation tools such as Keysight ADS with non-linear and EM solvers, SystemVue, and MATLAB/Simulink, or equivalents such as Cadence AWR.
Hands-on lab capability with microwave test equipment
Experience with RF schematic capture, PCB layout collaboration, and RF/microwave component selection, and the ability to debug HW/RF/FPGA integration from schematics and datasheets.
Knowledge of various communication and wireless standards
Excellent communication skills and fluency in English, with the ability to present technical findings and trade-offs concisely to internal teams and clients.
Strong technical judgment with an emphasis on quality and rigor, a willingness to learn new technologies, and readiness for occasional travel (typically within North America) to support client engagements.

Nice To Haves

A Master's in RF/microwave engineering or communications is an asset.
Phased array and beamforming design, including collaboration with antenna engineers
DPD, CFR, and envelope tracking
Link budget analysis — terrestrial (with propagation models), MIMO, or orbital SatCom
Regulatory certification experience — FCC, ISED, or ETSI transmitter certification/filings
Direct-RF sampling architectures on AMD Zynq RFSoC or Versal devices

Responsibilities

Define the RF architecture and frequency plan — IF and LO selection, Nyquist zone/sampling plan, clocking, anti-alias/spurious filtering, and line-up specification.
Design Tx chains from baseband through up-conversion — drivers, filters, power amplifiers to 10 W, ALC and detector-based output level control, and output protection.
Design Rx chains, including digitally intensive sampling architectures — LNA lineups, down-conversion strategy, analog variable gain and AGC, interferer rejection, and input limiting and protection.
Model and budget system performance: NF, sensitivity, dynamic range, linearity, EVM, and the LO and clock phase noise and jitter needed to support it.
Specify and select filters, mixers, circulators, isolators, couplers, dividers and hybrids, including custom parts developed with third-party vendors.
Configure the digital signal path — RFSoC hard IP, DUC/DDC, decimation and interpolation filters, sample rate conversion, and FIR synthesis for arbitrary amplitude and phase response.
Drive RF and microwave PCB layout with our layout and signal integrity teams, designing for compliance from the outset.
Build-in the features that make a subsystem manufacturable (e.g., factory calibration hooks, digital correction filters, and register access to enable ATE).
Verify/characterize performance in the lab using spectrum and signal analyzers, VNAs, vector and analog signal generators, and power meters.
Develop technical estimates and risk mitigation strategies, and work closely with clients to produce well-documented, maintainable designs that stand up to review.