Lead RF Test Engineer

About the role

The Lead RF Test Engineer serves as the RF technical lead within Production Engineering, supporting production test for RF, modem, and wideband digitizer products. This role includes hands-on troubleshooting, setting troubleshooting direction, recommending changes to RF test methods, and working with the team to implement these changes.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the RF technical lead for Production Engineering, providing technical direction and guidance to junior engineers, technicians, and cross-functional teams.
• Lead the troubleshooting approach for RF production issues, coaching engineers and technicians through diagnosis, containment, root cause, and corrective action.
• Improve first-pass yield, reduce repeat failures, and decrease troubleshooting time by building stronger RF troubleshooting discipline and root-cause follow-through across the team.
• Support production test for RF, modem, and wideband digitizer hardware using equipment such as spectrum analyzers, VNAs, signal generators, power meters, and oscilloscopes.
• Develop, maintain, and improve automated and legacy test systems using scripting or tools such as Python, LabVIEW, or TestStand.
• Partner with Design Engineering on test strategy, test coverage, NPI readiness, and design-for-test improvements so production test needs are addressed earlier in the product lifecycle.
• Recommend, review, and improve RF test methods, equipment, fixtures, procedures, automation, and documentation for clarity, repeatability, technical accuracy, and long-term test capability.
• Escalate and drive recurring technical issues toward root cause when test strategy, product design, documentation, fixtures, or equipment are creating production failures.
• Escalate production RF risks with clear data, recommended actions, and ownership so schedule, quality, and program tradeoffs can be resolved by the right decision makers.
• Help establish operating discipline around production RF issues, including clear ownership, escalation, root cause follow-through, and communication across Engineering, Production, Quality, Supply Chain, and Program Management.

Requirements

This role requires a U.S. citizen with 5+ years of hands-on RF test experience, strong understanding of RF test fundamentals and RF measurements, experience troubleshooting RF failures, and experience scripting or programming test equipment using Python or similar tools. Strong judgment under production schedule pressure, practical problem-solving mindset, and ability to communicate clearly across technical and non-technical groups are also essential.

Skills

• Strong understanding of RF test fundamentals and RF measurements, with hands-on experience using equipment such as spectrum analyzers, vector network analyzers, signal generators, power meters, and oscilloscopes.
• Experience troubleshooting RF failures in a lab or production environment.
• Experience scripting or programming test equipment using Python or similar tools.
• Ability to mentor engineers and technicians.
• Ability to work mostly onsite due to lab and production hardware.
• Strong judgment under production schedule pressure, with a practical problem-solving mindset and willingness to work close to production hardware.
• Ability to communicate clearly across technical and non-technical groups when production, quality, or schedule risk is present.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with one or more of the following is helpful: RF systems operating roughly from 70 MHz to 3 GHz, RF performance metrics, automated production test systems, Python, LabVIEW, TestStand, Linux, Git, Bitbucket, Jira, NPI, design-for-test reviews, aerospace, defense, satellite communications, or ground systems.
• Experience leading cross-functional technical issues involving Production, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, or Program Management.
• Experience mentoring engineers or technicians, leading technical reviews, or helping establish team-level engineering discipline.