RF Engineer III

Kansas City National Security Campus•Overland Park, KS

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The RF Engineer III applies intermediate-level proficiency and experience to realize designs from theory through tested hardware. The engineer independently determines and develops approaches to solving problems, routinely applies electromagnetic simulation tools and RF measurements, and uses sound grounding in large-scale system concepts. The role applies advanced theoretical concepts to hardware design and may involve RF circuit design, antenna design, RF amplifier circuits, and measurement of complex RF systems. The engineer can routinely design and build standard antennas such as patches and dipoles, while more complex antenna designs may require additional direction. The position works on projects through completion, designing antennas, selecting manufacturing processes, testing design concepts, developing custom RF boards and enclosures, and troubleshooting RF, radar, electromagnetic, and related production-design issues. It involves selecting and evaluating RF components and suppliers, developing and automating test processes, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to mature and assure product quality. The position is on-site at KCNSC West in Overland Park, Kansas. Regular, reliable attendance is required, and travel may be needed; the posting indicates 0–10% travel.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship required to obtain and maintain a DOE security clearance.
Bachelor of Science degree from an ABET-accredited Electrical Engineering or Physics program, or a related field of study.
Four or more years of relevant experience.
Experience designing and evaluating electromagnetic solutions using tools such as Altium, CST, and other RF simulation tools.
Ability to understand RF equipment settings and determine automation processes using LabVIEW, MATLAB, Python, or similar software.
Ability to design custom RF boards and enclosures to meet specifications and connect to hardware.
Background testing and developing test suites using Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM).
Ability to troubleshoot RF, radar, and electromagnetic component development and production-design failures and recommend improvements.
Experience selecting and evaluating RF components and suppliers using fundamental RF metrics, including return loss, insertion loss, amplification, saturation point (P1 dB), frequency range, and noise figure.
Ability to work on-site and maintain regular, reliable attendance; ability to travel as needed.
The engineer is expected to understand RF propagation and transmission lines; use a Smith Chart and perform simple matching; and have experience with PCB schematic and layout tools.
Knowledge or experience in multiple areas including antennas, antenna arrays, RFIDs, phased-array design and testing; RF test equipment; load-pull systems; transceiver design; software-defined radio prototyping and GNU Radio or other SDR tools; digital signal processing; signal conversion (DAC, ADC, PLL, DDS); filters; RF amplifiers; radar and remote sensing; communication protocols; RFIC design and simulation tools; and RF hardware.
Ability to write or modify custom scripts for automation, including with LabVIEW, Python, or other scripting languages.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree specializing in antennas, RF, or electromagnetics.
Familiarity with testing high-power (>100 W) pulse radar systems.
Familiarity with packaging and testing for airborne and space RF systems.
Experience with RF hardware such as directional couplers, isolators, splitters, and attenuators.

Responsibilities

Apply electromagnetic simulation tools and RF measurement techniques to projects through completion, with consideration of large-scale system concepts.
Design antennas, select manufacturing processes, and test antenna design concepts.
Use RF simulation tools such as Altium and CST to design and evaluate electromagnetic solutions.
Understand RF equipment settings and determine automation processes using tools such as LabVIEW, MATLAB, or Python.
Design custom RF boards and enclosures that meet specifications and connect to hardware.
Develop and test test suites for Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM).
Troubleshoot RF, radar, and electromagnetic component development and production-design failures, and recommend improvements, including for custom RFICs and packaging.
Work with cross-functional teams, including mechanical engineering, quality, inspection, and analytical laboratories, to support product maturation and quality.
Select and evaluate RF components and suppliers by comparing metrics such as return loss, insertion loss, amplification, saturation point (P1 dB), frequency range, and noise figure.
Maintain regular, reliable attendance and work on-site; travel as needed.