RF Test Engineer

RF Test Engineer – Advanced Mobile RF Systems Cambridge, UK I’m working with a venture-backed, fabless semiconductor company in Cambridge developing genuinely disruptive RF front-end technology for mobile and connected devices. This is not incremental RF. This is architecture-level change designed to simplify the RF front-end, reduce complexity, and enable scalable, manufacturable solutions for next-generation connectivity. They’re now hiring an RF Test Engineer to sit at the centre of hardware validation and product development. This is a hands-on RF measurement and validation position. You will own the correlation between design intent and measured hardware performance. Your work will directly influence architectural decisions, optimisation strategies, and ultimately what goes into production silicon and modules. You won’t just “run tests”. You’ll build robust, repeatable RF measurement environments that development engineers trust when making design trade-offs. The output of this role is simple: clean data, high correlation, and engineering decisions made with confidence. What You’ll Be Doing Conduct detailed RF measurements and characterise product performance across development builds Execute 3GPP-aligned RF measurements (LTE and/or NR), assessing TX/RX behaviour Develop, maintain and improve repeatable RF test setups for product characterisation Provide structured, technically rigorous feedback to RF design and systems teams Participate in design reviews, using measured data to influence decisions Troubleshoot performance issues at board and module level Develop automation scripts (Python, MATLAB or similar) to improve repeatability and efficiency Ensure measurement processes are robust, calibrated, documented and defensible Support integration, optimisation and system trade-off discussions This is a lab-based engineering role. It demands precision, ownership and technical judgement. What They’re Looking For Education & Background Degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications or similar Strong grounding in RF fundamentals Technical Capability Solid understanding of: S-parameters Impedance matching Gain, noise figure and linearity Modulation-dependent behaviour Hands-on experience with: Network analysers Spectrum analysers Signal generators RF power measurement equipment Practical experience performing 3GPP LTE and/or NR RF measurements Experience building and refining repeatable RF measurement setups Ability to read schematics and interpret RF system-level diagrams Experience with test automation (Python, MATLAB or equivalent) Comfortable soldering and reworking PCBs in a lab environment Personal Attributes Detail-driven and disciplined with documentation Analytical, structured and technically honest Comfortable working in ambiguity without losing rigour Able to operate independently but collaborate effectively with design and systems engineers Resilient when chasing root causes in complex RF behaviour Why This Role Matters In early-stage semiconductor and module development, measurement quality dictates product quality. This hire will be central to: Ensuring high correlation between simulation and hardware Building trust in lab data Improving first-time-right design performance Supporting the path from development to manufacturable product If you enjoy being the engineer who turns messy RF behaviour into structured, decision-ready data — this will suit you.