Sr Staff/Principal Power Amplifier (PA) Design Engineer

Who is Recruiting from Scratch:

Recruiting from Scratch is a talent firm that focuses on placing the best candidate for our clients. Our team is 100% remote and we work with teams across North America, South America, and Europe to help them hire.

About our Client:

Our client is building a distributed radar imaging constellation to power the first accurate, real-time 3D map of the world.

The Hardware Engineering team s responsible for the analysis and design of our satellite and ground-station hardware platforms.

These platforms tend to be a heterogeneous mix of various subsystems like compute, memory, peripherals with high-speed interfaces, RF, sensing, power management, navigation, and controls. The focus areas of the Hardware Engineering Team can be split into Aerospace/Avionics, Electrical/Electronics (EE), and Communications/Radar engineering.

As a Power Amplifier (PA) Design Engineer in the Communications/Radar team, you will own the design of the RF PAs that will power the radar and communication links onboard our satellites, from concept to deployment. RF PAs are a critical component that is required to enable our distributed MIMO SAR approach to 3D earth observation. In this critical role, you will be collaborating with our antenna, RF, communications, and radar engineers to ensure the delivery of reliable, high-yield, state-of-the-art PA designs that satisfy the stringent requirements necessary to support the mission objectives

Responsibilities:

Translating high-level requirements into design specifications and evaluating design trade-offs

Design and simulate high-performance PA circuits, and optimize PA performance for efficiency, linearity, and reliability

Work with vendors and partners to select components for cost-optimized designs

Create schematics and work closely with PCB designers to ensure proper layout and signal integrity

Develop and build prototypes of amplifier circuits for testing and evaluation

Prepare comprehensive test plans and conduct thorough testing, measurement, and characterization of amplifier prototypes to validate performance and make necessary adjustments

Identify and resolve issues related to amplifier functionality and performance

Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including antenna, RF, digital communication, and radar engineers, to ensure PA designs meet system-level requirements

Work with contract manufacturers for mass production, testing, calibration, and integration of PAs into our satellites

Basic Qualifications:

Master’s degree in electrical engineering with a focus on RF/microwave circuits, semiconductor device physics, or a related field

9+ years of proven experience in power amplifier (PA) design in GaN and GaAs based technologies for high-power high-volume products

Solid understanding of PA topologies and design trade-offs

Solid background in electromagnetic theory and RF fundamentals such as s-parameters, transmission lines, broadband impedance matching, etc.

Hands-on experience with RF test equipment such as network analyzers, modulated signal sources/analyzers, source/load-pull measurements, probe station measurements, etc.

Excellent teamwork and communication skills

Learns new concepts rapidly, completely, and in a self-directed manner

High level of self-motivation and personal accountability

Ability to work in a fast-paced environment under significant time constraints

Experience with programming tools such as MATLAB and/or Python

Preferred Skills and Experience:

Ph.D in electrical engineering with a focus on RF/microwave circuits, semiconductor device physics, or a related field

Strong understanding of GaN and GaAs device physics.

Experience with linear and nonlinear analysis and simulation in ADS, Microwave Office, or Cadence (Spectre) circuit simulators

Proficiency in 3D EM simulation using HFSS and/or Analyst

Experience designing other FEM components such as LNAs, switches, phase shifters, attenuators, couplers, etc. in various technologies (SiGe, SOI, CMOS, etc.)

Experience designing transmit/receive front-end modules (FEMs) integrating multiple components such as PAs, LNAs, switches, phase shifters, attenuators, and couplers

Experience with various packaging types such as QFN, LGA, FCBGA, and laminates, and their impact on PA and FEM performance

Experience with EMC requirements and EMI mitigation techniques relevant to PA and FEM design

Experience with schematic capture and RF/high-speed board design/layout using CAD tools such as Altium Designer, Allegro, ORCAD, etc.

Experience with thermal analysis and simulation

Hands-on RF tuning skills at the bench to optimize PA and FEM performance

Knowledge of antenna design is a plus