RF Network Engineer

Senior RF/IT Systems Engineer – 5G & IoT/LPWANThe Senior RF/IT Systems Engineer – 5G & IoT/LPWAN leads design, deployment, and operations of private cellular and low power wide area networks, integrating them with secure, reliable enterprise IT. This role spans 3GPP RAN planning, IoT/LPWAN architecture, lab/field validation, security/compliance, automation, and cross functional collaboration.RF Architecture & PlanningDefine RF architectures for private 5G (including CBRS) and IoT/LPWAN (LoRaWAN, NB IoT/LTE M, Wi SUN); produce link budgets, frequency/channel plans, and capacity models.Plan PCI/PRACH, neighbor relations, handovers, slicing/QoS, and timing (GNSS/PTP IEEE 1588); select antennas, filters, LNAs/PAs, and duplexing components.Model propagation, multipath, and interference; generate coverage maps and optimization plans; implement mitigation (tilt, power control, frequency reuse).Validation & OptimizationExecute lab characterization (EVM, ACLR, BER) and field verification (drive tests, spectrum scans); analyze KPIs (RSRP/SINR/CQI, throughput, latency).Optimize for reliability and performance across macro/small cells, indoor DAS, and IoT gateways; tune parameters based on telemetry and traffic patterns.IT Integration & SecurityIntegrate RF nodes and gateways with enterprise LAN/WAN (L2/L3), VLAN segmentation, QoS, DHCP/DNS, and time sync (PTP/NTP).Implement secure connectivity: VPNs, firewall policies, micro segmentation, NAC, device identity and PKI; manage certificates and secure onboarding for IoT (TLS/mTLS, MQTT/CoAP).Build observability: SNMP/telemetry, NetFlow/IPFIX, log pipelines; deliver dashboards and alerts (Grafana/Prometheus/Elastic/Datadog/Splunk).Automate build/deploy/runbooks with Python/PowerShell; use IaC (Terraform/Ansible) and CI/CD (Git) for repeatable, auditable changes.Compliance, Safety & RiskMap and implement controls from NIST CSF, NIST SP 800 53/800 171, and ISO/IEC 27001; contribute to risk assessments and audit readiness.Enforce RF safety (ANSI/IEEE C95.1), site RF exposure limits, grounding/lightning protection, and lock out/tag out procedures.Maintain documentation: architecture diagrams, as builts, test reports, change records, SOPs/runbooks.Cross Functional LeadershipPartner with Systems Architecture, Network Operations, Cybersecurity, and Field Services; provide Tier 3 escalation and mentor engineers.Lead vendor selection, POCs, and performance benchmarking; drive standards and best practices across RF and IT domains.