Senior/Principal Microwave & Sensor Engineer - Advanced RF Systems, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas.

About the role

The Advanced RF Systems department (5365) is seeking a highly motivated RF/Microwave Engineer to join its team. This position focuses on providing specialized RF engineering expertise to aid in the development and fielding of communication and Electronic Warfare systems. You will be joining a multi-disciplinary team focused on delivering solutions to national security challenges. The ideal candidate will possess strong teamwork skills and a background in electronics engineering (RF, analog, digital) within size, weight, and power (SWaP) of constrained systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop and incorporate innovative technologies, including efforts to negotiate technical and programmatic requirements with customers
• Analyze, design, and develop communication and electronic warfare (EW) systems, subsystems, and modules
• Develop and execute test and qualification plans
• Deliver hardware within schedule and budgetary constraints
• Troubleshoot problems and support anomaly resolution activities
• Develop or mature RF technologies to enable new mission capabilities
• Lead or support formal program reviews
• Support customer-funded advanced development needs
• Provide engineering and programmatic documentation
• Apply knowledge and experience to evaluate and improve work quality, performance, and alignment of results with customer expectations
• Build and maintain relationships with customers, partners, and influencers, including:
  • Interacting with customers and stakeholders
  • Representing Sandia within the technical community
  • Engaging with commercial or industry partners
  • Mentoring junior staff
• Occasionally travel to engage partners
• Work with technical teams to ensure expectations and requirements are met

Due to the nature of work, the successful candidate must be able to work onsite. The position will require occasional travel. Relocation provided for those that qualify.

Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and five (5) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development
• Ability to acquire and maintain a DOE Q clearance and SCI clearance, which may require a polygraph

Qualifications

• Graduate degree in Electrical Engineering or a directly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation)
• Laboratory skills and knowledge of RF and digital test equipment
• Knowledge of RF, Digital Communications, Electronic Warfare, and Cyber Security systems and principles
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams
• RF and Microwave Design and Analysis:
  • Proficiency in designing, analyzing, and optimizing RF circuits and systems
  • Experience in designing and synthesizing RF and microwave circuits
  • Experience with RF/microwave design tools (HFSS, CST, ADS, Genesys, etc.)
  • Experience in printed circuit board design/layout including high frequency design
• Experience in a hardware electronics laboratory environment and measurement techniques including:
  • Use of general test and measurement equipment (oscilloscopes, DMM, logic analyzers)
  • RF test equipment (network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters)
  • Probe testing/troubleshooting of RF/microwave, analog, and digital circuits
• Experience in mixed-signal digital and analog circuit design
• Project leadership experience with a demonstrated ability to deliver results
• Excellent communication (written and verbal) and teamwork skills
• Ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with external and internal partners
• Experience or familiarity with the Intelligence Community and Department of War organizations and mission spaces
• Active DOE Q or DOW Top Secret security clearance and the ability to acquire and maintain an SCI clearance

Benefits

• Challenging work with impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
• Extraordinary co-workers
• Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include:
  • 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off)
  • 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks
  • Part-time work and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance, and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance

These benefits vary by job classification.

Pay

Salary Range: $117,500 - $235,700

Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

About Our Team

As part of the Intelligent RF Communications group, we play a pivotal role in advancing the Nation's technological superiority. Our team is dedicated to delivering capabilities that ensure RF and spectral dominance, highly reliable communications, and groundbreaking advancements that fortify our future strength. We thrive in a dynamic environment where cross-department collaboration is key, enabling us to provide integrated engineering solutions that span from core research to prototype development and high-end, fielded products.

In the Advanced RF Systems department (5365), we tackle pressing national security challenges by developing innovative solutions in wireless communication and electronic warfare. Our customers include a variety of government organizations including the U.S Armed Forces, the Intelligence Community, and those conducting special operations missions. Our staff members have a diverse skills set including microwave circuit design, antenna design, signal analysis, digital signal processing, and embedded software. We partner across the laboratory and the group to bring on other critical skill sets to our multi-disciplinary team to include computer scientists, systems engineers, and cyber engineers. Our design challenges include system development (designing scalable systems, systems integration into host platforms, etc), understanding complex adversary systems and associated vulnerabilities, and signal analysis and generation of RF low probably of detect waveforms.