RF/Microwave Design Engineer

Communications & Power Industries (CPI)•State College, PA

3h•Onsite

About The Position

CPI Satcom & Antenna Technologies is seeking an experienced RF/Microwave Design Engineer to develop high-reliability satellite communications electronics and lead focused engineering development projects. This hands-on technical role combines direct RF design work with technical leadership of small, multidisciplinary teams. The engineer will translate requirements into practical development plans, coordinate contributors, guide technical decisions, manage risks, and remain accountable for the integrated design and overall technical result. The role emphasizes rapid, disciplined development: moving from requirements to models, experiments, and working hardware; testing high-risk assumptions early; and iterating based on measured results. Engineers use RF simulation, electromagnetic modeling, scripting, data analysis, automated testing, and company-approved AI tools, while critically validating outputs through engineering judgment and physical measurements. The position offers challenging RF design work, opportunities to lead product development and broaden technical and leadership experience, and the chance to influence satellite communications products. CPI describes a collaborative, team-oriented environment, competitive salaries, and comprehensive benefits.

Requirements

B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field.
At least five years of relevant RF or microwave engineering experience.
Demonstrated experience designing, building, testing, and improving RF or microwave circuitry.
Experience leading a technical development project, significant work package, or small multidisciplinary engineering team.
Ability to organize technical work, coordinate contributors, resolve problems, and drive development toward measurable results.
Working knowledge of RF system cascade and performance-budget analysis; linear and nonlinear RF behavior; noise figure and gain analysis; transmission lines, impedance matching, and printed RF structures; microstrip and coplanar-waveguide design; RF PCB layout and construction; and design for manufacturability.
Hands-on experience with RF test equipment, such as vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters, and noise-figure measurement systems.
Ability to independently investigate engineering problems and turn analysis into practical hardware improvements.
Ability to communicate requirements, priorities, decisions, risks, and technical results clearly to technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
Strong technical documentation, organizational, and communication skills.
Willingness to collaborate, share knowledge, develop other team members, and continuously learn new tools and methods.

Responsibilities

Design and develop RF and microwave products, including solid-state power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, upconverters and downconverters, filters, matching networks, and other RF assemblies.
Translate customer and product requirements into architectures, performance budgets, block diagrams, interface definitions, and verification plans.
Evaluate RF components, semiconductor devices, materials, and circuit topologies.
Perform linear, nonlinear, noise, thermal, and system-level analyses.
Use RF circuit and electromagnetic simulation tools to predict and optimize performance.
Participate directly in analysis, laboratory testing, design decisions, and problem resolution.
Serve as technical lead for small, multidisciplinary product-development teams.
Establish technical approaches, development plans, responsibilities, priorities, milestones, and verification strategies.
Break complex projects into increments that produce measurable technical progress, and organize early analyses, prototypes, or experiments to resolve high-risk assumptions.
Coordinate engineers, designers, technicians, manufacturing personnel, suppliers, and other contributors.
Make or drive timely technical decisions and maintain visibility of requirements, interfaces, dependencies, risks, decisions, and open technical issues.
Monitor progress, address blockers or unexpected results, and communicate status, risks, resource needs, and recovery plans.
Maintain accountability for the integrated design and overall technical result.
Support design reviews, customer discussions, supplier interactions, and transitions into manufacturing.
Use Python, MATLAB, or similar tools to automate calculations, analyze test data, compare alternatives, control test equipment, and document results.
Use company-approved AI tools for research, modeling, coding, troubleshooting, test-data analysis, planning, and technical documentation; review outputs critically for errors, assumptions, and physical plausibility.
Validate important results with independent calculations, trusted references, simulation comparisons, experiments, and measurements.
Promote reusable calculations, automated workflows, documented test methods, and knowledge sharing.
Work in short development cycles of modeling, building, measuring, learning, and improving.
Communicate technical requirements, priorities, decisions, risks, and results to technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
Collaborate, share knowledge, develop team members, and contribute to continuous learning.