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Senior RF Engineer
Contract type
Ongoing
Work mode
Hybrid · Kassel, Germany
Experience
Lead / principal · 10+ years
Job description
Technical authority for RF hardware behind Dedrone's airspace security products, owning RF front-end architecture and leading a group of RF hardware engineers and antenna designers. Based in Kassel with a hybrid schedule.
At a glance
- Employment
- Full-time · Employee (employment agreement)
- Work mode
- Hybrid · Kassel, Germany
- Languages
- English
What you'll do
- Own RF front-end architecture from VHF through SHF: link budgets, frequency planning, spurious and intermodulation analysis, sensitivity and dynamic-range trade-offs
- Design and characterize mixers, high-power amplifiers, filters, and switching networks against demanding linearity, efficiency, and thermal targets
- Drive board-level simulation (EM, circuit, and co-simulation) and take designs through multi-layer RF PCB layout, stack-up definition, and fabrication release
- Lead bring-up, characterization, and design-for-test; close the loop between simulated and measured performance
- Set and enforce RF design standards, review checklists, and documentation practice across the group
- Mentor RF HW engineers and antenna designers; raise the technical bar through design reviews rather than rework
- Partner with DSP, software, mechanical, and systems engineering, and with regulatory/compliance on CE, FCC, and MIL-STD qualification
- Advise leadership on technology direction, build-vs-buy, and technical risk
What we're looking for
- 10+ years in RF hardware design, with a track record of products shipped to volume
- Deep expertise across VHF, UHF, and SHF — not just one band
- Demonstrated design ownership of mixers and high-power amplifiers above 10 W
- Strong command of RF simulation tooling — EM and circuit solvers (e.g. ADS, AWR, HFSS, CST) — and the judgment to know when simulation is telling you the truth
- Multi-layer RF PCB design: controlled impedance, material selection, grounding, isolation, thermal management
- Fluent with VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, and power measurement; comfortable debugging from first principles
- Proven technical leadership of a design group — setting direction and standards, mentoring, running rigorous design reviews
- Degree in Electrical Engineering, Communications Engineering, or equivalent
Nice to have
- Antenna design and integration — element and array design, platform effects, radiation-pattern measurement
- Direction-finding techniques (amplitude/phase comparison, interferometry, TDOA, AoA estimation)
- Beamforming across approaches: analog, digital, and hybrid; phased arrays and adaptive/null-steering methods
- Hands-on experience with SDR platforms
- Experience developing and qualifying products for regulated markets — CE, FCC, and/or MIL-STD
- Working knowledge of DSP concepts sufficient to trade functionality between analog and digital domains
Your team
RF Engineering
Reports to the Director RF Engineering; technically leads a group of RF hardware engineers and antenna designers.
Apply
About Axon
Join Axon and be a Force for Good.
Axon pursues society's most critical safety and justice issues with an ecosystem of devices and cloud software.
Mission
Protect Life.
What they value
- Candor and care
- Diversity and inclusion
- Ownership