RF / EMC (Desense) Design Engineer

Syntronic • San Jose, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

This role is for a motivated RF / EMC (Desense) Design Engineer within a leading global engineering design house specializing in the design and development of state-of-the-art embedded hardware, electronics, and electro-mechanics. The engineer will characterize, root-cause, and resolve radio desense and electromagnetic interference (EMI/EMC) problems on consumer electronic products. The position involves connecting concepts across EMC design, desense, antenna, wireless communication, and computational electromagnetics to solve complex problems, working closely with antenna, RF, and SI/PI engineers to meet connectivity performance targets. The ideal candidate is responsive, flexible, detail-oriented, comfortable with significant bench work, and able to succeed in a collaborative environment. This is an agency contractor (yellow badge) role within the Device Connectivity – Wireless Design team.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering (or related field) with 3–5+ years of relevant experience, OR a Master's/PhD with 2+ years.
• Proven track record of solving desense, EMI, and/or EMC problems on consumer electronic products.
• Strong hands-on bench skills — comfortable owning lab measurement, instrumentation, and debug as a primary day-to-day focus.
• Strong understanding of EM concepts that help solve desense, EMI, RF, antenna, and SI/PI issues.
• Expert with EM simulation tools such as CST, HFSS, and ADS.
• Fluency in at least one programming/scripting language (e.g., Python, C, C++) for problem solving and data analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to work well within cross-functional teams (PD, Rel, SI/PI, EE).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

• PhD in Engineering, Technology, Science, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field.
• Experience applying optimization or ML techniques (LP/MIP, statistics, machine learning, combinatorial optimization) to EM/wireless design.
• Experience with data mining on large datasets.
• Experience designing antennas.
• Exposure to wireless communication technologies such as LTE/5G, GPS/GNSS, and mmWave.

Responsibilities

• Characterize, root-cause, and resolve desense, EMI, and EMC issues across product programs (Wi-Fi, BT/BLE, LTE/5G, GNSS, and other radios).
• Perform hands-on bench and lab work: prototype bring-up, instrumentation setup, near-field/conducted/radiated measurement, and debug.
• Apply EM concepts to solve desense, EMI, RF, antenna, and SI/PI problems in collaboration with antenna and RF engineers.
• Perform noise-source identification, coupling-path analysis, PSD measurement, and mitigation design (shielding, filtering, grounding, layout).
• Use EM simulation and modeling to predict and resolve interference before and during builds.
• Support DFM and high-volume manufacturing by ensuring desense/EMI robustness carries into production.
• Support sustaining and field-issue investigations related to desense and EMI.
• Help achieve regulatory and performance goals for radio and EMC compliance.

Benefits

• Outstanding people and a flexible work environment.
• Career Growth Opportunities – being a design house keeps variety in your work. New opportunities happening all the time!
• Global Design House – you will probably work with in a team with engineers from other Syntronic sites (Canada, Sweden, China, Malaysia, Japan).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level