About the position
About the Role
The Senior RF Engineer is responsible for the design, development, and testing of RF circuits, subsystems, and antennas, while also shaping product architectures for radar, radio, and signal intelligence systems. This role combines hands-on technical design and validation with leadership responsibilities, including mentoring, acting as a design authority, and providing strategic technical oversight to ensure high-performance, compliant, and innovative RF solutions for our unmanned aircraft systems and related defence technologies.
Key Responsibilities
RF Design & Development
- Create and optimize RF circuits and subsystems to meet performance specifications
- Use simulation tools to model RF behaviour, followed by hands-on testing and validation
- Develop prototypes to refine and validate RF designs against standards and specifications
- Diagnose and resolve RF interference, signal degradation, and performance issues
- Contribute to the design and development of RF and patch antennas
Architecture & Technical Oversight
- Define and model requirements for radar and radio products
- Contribute to and review RF designs to ensure technical excellence
- Provide technical oversight and serve as design authority on RF projects
Documentation & Compliance
- Prepare detailed technical reports, design documentation, and compliance submissions
- Ensure all RF designs meet quality assurance standards and regulatory compliance requirements
Leadership & Mentorship
- Lead and mentor RF engineering team members, providing technical guidance and coaching
- Take ownership of processes, strategic planning, and requirement management
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Electronic/Electrical Engineering (Master's degree in Electronic Engineering advantageous), NQF Level 8 or higher
- 10+ years of relevant experience in RF engineering
- Proficiency in Matlab, Ansys HFSS, and Altium
- Proven expertise in RF circuits and subsystem design
Strong knowledge of
- RF theory and electronic design
- Antenna design, including patch antennas
- Measurement techniques and wireless communication
- Beam forming, radar systems, radios, and detect and avoid radar
- Power amplifiers, mixers, low-noise amplifiers, diplexers
- High-speed digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters
- Circulators, splitters/combiners
- Regulatory compliance requirements
Non-negotiable skills
- Expertise in RF design and analysis
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
- Technical report writing, documentation, and compliance reporting
- Leadership and mentoring capability
- Requirement management and systems engineering exposure
- Product development and quality assurance oversight
