Hybrid RF Engineer

at Swan

• Job title: RF Engineer
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Mid level, Senior
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: Python
• Location requirements: Hybrid, San Francisco, United States

About the role

• RF Engineer developing electronic warfare detection and mapping prototypes for Swan startup. Involves hands-on RF experimentation and collaboration with senior engineers to innovate solutions.

Responsibilities

• Build and iterate RF sensing prototypes for electronic warfare (EW) mapping experiments, including assembling and tuning receive chains (antenna → filtering → LNA/attenuation → SDR) and validating performance through testing.
• Execute field-style data collections using SDR platforms (USRP-class preferred), improving measurement reliability and quality through practical iteration (gain staging, front-end behavior, timing and metadata discipline).
• Develop DSP workflows on raw I/Q data to detect and characterize signals of interest (time–frequency analysis, correlation/matched filtering, detection metrics, spectral features), with an emphasis on identifying and tracking emitters.
• Apply lightweight parameter estimation and modeling to convert measurements into interpretable outputs (e.g., power trends, signal presence probability), and identify failure modes driven by real-world propagation and receiver artifacts.
• Create simple, robust data tooling to support experimentation, including repeatable capture → replay → evaluation workflows.
• Collaborate closely with senior engineers and researchers to translate ideas into structured experiments, validate assumptions with real data, and clearly document results and lessons learned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a closely related field.
• Strong hands-on engineering mindset, including comfort building RF setups, swapping components, collecting measurements, and iterating until systems perform as expected.
• Foundational knowledge of digital signal processing, including several of the following:
• I/Q sampling fundamentals
• FFTs and spectrograms (STFT)
• basic filtering concepts
• correlation and matched filtering
• detection fundamentals (thresholding, false alarms, probability of detection)
• Prior exposure to SDR systems (coursework, internship, or personal projects), ideally using tools such as UHD, GNU Radio, SoapySDR, or Python-based SDR workflows, including experience capturing and interpreting spectrum and baseband data.
• Proficiency in Python (with willingness to work in C++ as needed) for analysis scripts, basic pipelines, and reproducible experimentation.
• Self-motivated and adaptable, with the ability to learn quickly, make progress independently, and ask thoughtful questions early.

Benefits

• Top-tier health, dental, vision, short-/long-term disability, and life insurance, with full employee coverage and partial coverage for dependents
• Flexible/reasonable vacation and sick leave
• 401(k) plans, FSA, HSA, and commuter benefits