Senior Principal RF Engineer

Senior Principal RF Engineer

Own the RF hardware design for aerospace and defense products from concept to production

Location: Hawthorne, California, United States

Compensation: $190,000 - 260,000 USD / year

Job Tags: Hardware

About The Role

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London.

CHAOS is seeking a Sr. Principal RF Engineer with deep expertise in RF circuit design to serve as a technical authority for high-reliability RF and microwave electronics used in aerospace and defense applications. This role spans the full product lifecycle, from early architecture and requirements shaping through detailed design, simulation, verification, production support, and fielded system sustainment.

The ideal candidate is an internally and externally recognized RF circuit technical authority who can set technical direction, establish design practices, mentor other engineers, and resolve the most complex RF, microwave, packaging, test, and system integration issues across multiple programs.

This is a full-time, on-site position in Hawthorne, CA.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, analysis, prototyping, and tuning of complex RF circuit boards incorporating catalog MMICs, including LNAs, power amplifiers, baluns, filters, mixers, and associated bias and matching networks
• Lead architecture development and component trade studies to meet system-level RF performance requirements across programs or product lines
• Set direction for schematics, layouts, and design documentation in accordance with customer requirements, aerospace standards, and internal design practices
• Serve as technical authority for linear, nonlinear, and electromagnetic simulations using industry-standard tools (e.g., HFSS, ADS, AWR, or equivalent)
• Guide PCB layout (Altium) and RF stack-up definition, including impedance control, grounding, shielding, and isolation techniques
• Lead RF testing and characterization, including integration and troubleshooting at the board, module, and subsystem levels
• Set direction for the design and specification of RF test equipment, fixtures, and automation
• Mentor engineers and drive cross-disciplinary technical alignment across systems, power, digital, mechanical, and software teams to ensure RF designs integrate cleanly within larger systems
• Serve as technical authority from development through production and post-production, including failure analysis and field support

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering with 15+ years of progressively responsible RF engineering experience
• Demonstrated technical leadership developing RF hardware for aerospace, defense, avionics, radar, EW, communications, or space systems
• Expert understanding of RF fundamentals, including gain, noise figure, linearity, phase noise, stability, and impedance matching
• Hands‑on experience leading RF test activities using RF test equipment (e.g., VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters)
• Demonstrated ability to lead analysis, troubleshooting, and resolution of complex RF circuit performance issues
• Strong attention to detail and ability to set technical direction in fast‑paced, development‑focused environments
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

Preferred Requirements

• Advanced Degree (MS or PhD) in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Physics, Mathematics or related discipline
• Recognized expertise with power amplifier design, analysis, and integration
• Expertise with EMI/EMC considerations for RF systems and compliance with applicable aerospace standards
• Experience setting direction for mixed-signal or RF/digital interfaces
• Expert knowledge of manufacturing considerations for RF hardware, including tolerance analysis and yield drivers
• Experience leading support for production hardware and fielded systems
• Experience setting RF PCB layout best practices and design‑for‑manufacturing considerations
• Familiarity with DO-160, MIL-STD-461, or similar aerospace/defense standards
• Familiarity with RF antenna design principles

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, No meeting Fridays, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre‑IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 250 employees and counting across 5 global offices

$190k-260k

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.