RF Designer

Fidus is a global high-tech design firm headquartered in Ottawa, with additional design centres in Kitchener-Waterloo and San Jose. We specialize in leading-edge electronic product development, with hardware, RF/wireless, embedded software, FPGA/ASIC, and signal integrity teams working together to design and deliver next-generation products for clients in emerging technology markets.

Position Overview/Mandate

The RF Designer owns complete RF subsystems on Fidus client programs — from the antenna port through the front-end, frequency conversion and data converters, that present into the DSP and/or FPGA fabric. You will set the RF architecture, build the frequency and sampling plans, design and model the transmit and receive lineups, and prove the performance on the bench, working at microwave frequencies up to 40 GHz.

This role suits an RF designer who has carried subsystems from architecture to characterized, manufacturable hardware, is ready to be the RF authority on a cross-functional team, and works directly with customers — taking pride in designs rigorously modeled before build and rigorously measured after.

Typical RF programs at Fidus include SatCom payloads, ground modems and portable terminals; GNSS and precision synchronization; radar and multi-sensor fusion; software defined radios; semiconductor characterization and test fixturing; industrial and private network radios; and medical telemetry.

Make an Impact with US

At Fidus, you'll work on high-speed, high-complexity electronic systems, often using emerging technologies before they reach the broader market. You'll collaborate across FPGA/DSP, hardware, embedded software, verification, SI/PI, PCB layout, and mechanical/thermal design as part of cross-functional teams delivering real products for our clients.

In practice, that means contributing to projects across Communications, Aerospace & Defense, Life Sciences & Medical Devices, Space & Satellite, Industrial Automation, Automotive, and Semiconductor engagements. You won't be limited to a single product or industry—your work will follow the technology, not just one roadmap.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Define the RF architecture and frequency plan — IF and LO selection, Nyquist zone/sampling plan, clocking, anti-alias/spurious filtering, and line-up specification.

• Design Tx chains from baseband through up-conversion — drivers, filters, power amplifiers to 10 W, ALC and detector-based output level control, and output protection.

• Design Rx chains, including digitally intensive sampling architectures — LNA lineups, down-conversion strategy, analog variable gain and AGC, interferer rejection, and input limiting and protection.

• Model and budget system performance: NF, sensitivity, dynamic range, linearity, EVM, and the LO and clock phase noise and jitter needed to support it.

• Specify and select filters, mixers, circulators, isolators, couplers, dividers and hybrids, including custom parts developed with third-party vendors.

• Configure the digital signal path — RFSoC hard IP, DUC/DDC, decimation and interpolation filters, sample rate conversion, and FIR synthesis for arbitrary amplitude and phase response.

• Drive RF and microwave PCB layout with our layout and signal integrity teams, designing for compliance from the outset.

• Build-in the features that make a subsystem manufacturable (e.g., factory calibration hooks, digital correction filters, and register access to enable ATE).

• Verify/characterize performance in the lab using spectrum and signal analyzers, VNAs, vector and analog signal generators, and power meters.

• Develop technical estimates and risk mitigation strategies, and work closely with clients to produce well-documented, maintainable designs that stand up to review.

Who You Are

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent. A Master's in RF/microwave engineering or communications is an asset.

• 8+ years designing RF and wireless hardware

• Familiarity with FDD and TDD techniques

• Experience interacting with FPGA, DSP, PCB Layout, and Signal Integrity designers

• Signal source and clocking design: PLL topology and loop filter design, VCO/DRO and LO multiplier specification, TCXO and VCXO selection, and phase noise and jitter specification and measurement.

• Filter and microwave component fluency — technology selection across printed, SAW/BAW/FBAR, ceramic resonator, discrete L/C, waveguide and cavity, plus circulators, isolators, couplers, dividers and hybrids — and experience specifying custom parts with vendors.

• Antenna familiarity: selection, interface specification and vendor management. Antenna element or array design is not required for this role.

• Expert-level use of RF modeling and simulation tools such as Keysight ADS with non-linear and EM solvers, SystemVue, and MATLAB/Simulink, or equivalents such as Cadence AWR.

• Hands-on lab capability with microwave test equipment

• Experience with RF schematic capture, PCB layout collaboration, and RF/microwave component selection, and the ability to debug HW/RF/FPGA integration from schematics and datasheets.

• Knowledge of various communication and wireless standards

• Excellent communication skills and fluency in English, with the ability to present technical findings and trade-offs concisely to internal teams and clients.

• Strong technical judgment with an emphasis on quality and rigor, a willingness to learn new technologies, and readiness for occasional travel (typically within North America) to support client engagements.

Location and travel: Position is based in the United States. Travel may be required domestically and internationally to support customer engagements and project delivery.

This position may require access to export-controlled information. Candidates must be a U.S. person as defined under 22 CFR 120.62, or be eligible for an export license. Candidates will be required to complete background checks.

Nice to Have

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