Entry Level- RF Systems Engineer; Onsite- Aberdeen, Maryland

ENTRY-LEVEL SYSTEMS ENGINEER xG and Mixed Signal Product Development | Technical Services About The Opportunity

Fairwinds Technologies is continuously looking for curious, organized, and hands-on early-career engineers who want to help turn advanced communications and RF concepts into integrated, testable, and supportable systems. In this role, you may support either our xG or Mixed Signal product development team, or technical-services contracts aligned with those product areas.

You will work alongside experienced systems, RF, network, DSP, FPGA, embedded software, electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, cybersecurity, and test engineers. The role provides exposure to the full engineering lifecycle, including stakeholder needs, requirements, architecture, interfaces, integration, verification, validation, configuration, documentation, demonstrations, and field support.

• Help capture, clarify, decompose, organize, and maintain system, subsystem, interface, performance, and verification requirements.
• Support development of system concepts, functional architectures, physical architectures, interface definitions, operational workflows, and engineering trade studies.
• Maintain traceability among customer needs, requirements, design decisions, interfaces, test methods, results, risks, and deliverables.
• Create and update system diagrams, block diagrams, interface-control information, use cases, verification matrices, test plans, procedures, and technical reports.
• Coordinate technical information across RF, networking, DSP, FPGA, embedded software, electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, cybersecurity, and test disciplines.
• Support integration of radios, modems, processors, networks, RF subsystems, antennas, embedded platforms, software, test equipment, and mechanical assemblies.
• Assist with verification and validation planning, requirement-based testing, acceptance criteria, data review, discrepancy tracking, and closure evidence.
• Participate in laboratory and field integration, customer demonstrations, design reviews, test-readiness reviews, troubleshooting, and root-cause investigations.
• Help manage technical risks, assumptions, dependencies, open decisions, action items, configuration baselines, and engineering changes.
• Prepare clear engineering documentation and concise technical briefings for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• xG wireless systems, including 5G, non-terrestrial networking, tactical communications, software-defined radio, mesh and mobile networks, gateways, and edge-compute platforms.
• Mixed Signal products, including Global Link and Echo Phase-related capabilities, channel emulation, coherent combining, wideband RF systems, embedded control, and network-connected test equipment.
• Integrated systems that combine RF, antennas, digital signal processing, FPGA logic, embedded Linux, networking, power, mechanical packaging, and management software.
• Performance areas such as interoperability, throughput, latency, signal quality, channel effects, timing, synchronization, reliability, environmental constraints, and operational usability.
• Government-funded R&D and technical-services contracts involving requirements analysis, architecture, integration, test, documentation, demonstrations, and field support.

• Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related technical field, completed or expected before start date.
• Coursework, laboratory, internship, capstone, research, or personal-project experience involving multidisciplinary system design, integration, testing, requirements, modeling, or technical documentation.
• Foundational understanding of the engineering lifecycle, including requirements, design, integration, verification, validation, and configuration control.
• Ability to organize complex technical information, identify interfaces and dependencies, and convert discussions into clear diagrams, requirements, plans, or action items.
• Basic ability to analyze test data, investigate discrepancies, communicate assumptions, and document conclusions.
• Ability to collaborate across multiple engineering disciplines and communicate effectively with technical and non-technical teammates.
• Ability to satisfy customer, site-access, export-control, and security requirements associated with assigned work.

• Exposure to…