Optiver builds long-range HF communication systems where RF performance directly influences end-to-end trading system performance. We are looking for an RF Systems Engineer to design, integrate, characterize, and improve the RF subsystems behind these systems. Your focus will span two key areas: Low-power RF receive systems, including filtering, amplification, signal conditioning, and integration with antennas and antenna arrays; and high-power RF transmit systems, covering power amplification, impedance matching, transmission lines, protection systems, and integration with antennas and antenna arrays. Your primary responsibility is the end-to-end analog RF subsystem: you own its design and performance and dive into individual components whenever necessary to enhance the whole. You should be equally comfortable with equations, models, simulation, laboratory measurements, and real-system data. You will work closely with system, algorithm, digital hardware, software, and test engineers, translating system objectives into RF requirements and RF measurements into engineering decisions.

• Own the design, integration, characterization, and performance of the analog RF receive and transmit chains.
• Work with high-power transmit hardware, including power amplifiers, combiners, couplers, transmission lines, and protection systems. Characterize gain, efficiency, linearity, harmonics, thermal behavior, and load-mismatch tolerance.
• Design and optimize impedance-matching and tuning solutions for changing antenna loads, balancing bandwidth, power handling, efficiency, and reflected power.
• Develop and integrate low-power receive chains, including LNAs, filters, switches, and matching networks.
• Work with antennas and antenna arrays: impedance, bandwidth, radiation performance, feed systems, phasing, and mutual coupling. Simulate antennas and antenna arrays with electromagnetic simulation tools such as NEC, FEKO, CST, or HFSS, and validate simulations against measurements.
• Combine simulation, analytical modeling, and measurement in Python to identify dominant system limitations, and collaborate with system, algorithm, and modeling engineers to investigate trade-offs and validate improvements across link budgets, cascaded gain and noise, nonlinear effects, and array behavior.
• Specify requirements toward suppliers: translate system objectives into clear specifications, find and evaluate antenna manufacturers and RF vendors, and manage supplier engagements from first contact through quotation, delivery, and acceptance testing.
• Define and execute test strategies at component, subsystem, and integration levels, covering test setups, acceptance criteria, calibration, and measurement uncertainty.