RF Test Engineer

RF Test Engineer

Department: Engineering

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Bristol, UK

Reporting To: Dec Rogers

Compensation: £40,000 - £60,000 / year

We’re building the UK's next generation engineering powerhouse, providing critical technology that strengthens national security and resilience.

We specialise in turning advances in sensing, AI, and communications into operational capability for the edge, where connectivity may be degraded or denied. Our work focuses on accelerating the deployment of technology, improving decision-making for frontline teams, and protecting people and critical assets in demanding environments.

Headquartered in Bristol, Rowden employs around 160 people and operates over 20,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing facilities. We have a growing international footprint and are one of Europe’s fastest-growing engineering businesses.

RF Test & Evaluation for Intelligent Wireless Systems

As part of this journey, we are expanding our RF test and evaluation capability to make sure our sensing and communication systems perform as intended across our products and research projects.

This function supports the design and delivery of RF and mixed-signal hardware platforms through hands‑on validation of system performance. From early hardware bring‑up through to structured product validation, test engineering helps us understand how systems actually behave and feeds that back into the design and development process.

As an RF Test Engineer, you will develop and run test strategies that validate RF system performance across the signal chain. You will work in the lab with real hardware, build automated test setups, and work closely with RF, hardware, software, and QA engineers to make sure our systems meet their performance requirements.

This is a hands‑on role that sits between development and validation. A lot of the work starts with understanding how a system works and what it’s trying to achieve, before working out the right way to test it. Sometimes that’s a quick lab measurement to answer a specific question. Other times it’s a more structured test suite that needs to be repeatable across product releases.

You will play a key role in making sure our RF systems are well‑understood, properly characterised, and ready for deployment in demanding environments.

While this role offers hybrid working options, it requires a minimum of 3 days per week on‑site at our Bristol HQ, with regular time in the lab and occasional travel to support integration or deployment activities.

Candidates must be willing to obtain UK National Security Vetting clearance, with SC required and DV desirable.

More information about security clearance is available here:

As an RF Test Engineer at Rowden, you will be responsible for:

• Developing test approaches to validate RF system performance, covering things like sensitivity, dynamic range, noise figure, and bandwidth.
• Setting up and running RF tests using lab equipment such as spectrum analysers, vector network analysers, signal generators, and oscilloscopes.
• Writing scripts (typically Python) to automate tests, control lab equipment, and make results repeatable.
• Supporting hardware bring‑up and early‑stage testing of new RF platforms, and feeding findings back to the design team.
• Working out what needs to be tested in cases where requirements aren’t fully defined, and building the test approach from there.
• Analysing test results and working with engineers to diagnose and resolve performance issues across analogue, mixed‑signal, and digital domains.
• Working with QA and product validation teams to develop structured, repeatable test procedures that support product releases.
• Maintaining and improving lab test setups, equipment configurations, and test infrastructure over time.
• Producing clear test documentation including test plans, procedures, and results reports.
• Working closely with RF, hardware, software, and systems engineers to make sure test coverage lines up with system‑level performance requirements.

We are looking for someone who actively invests in their technical depth and…