Applications Engineer - Principal

Principal Applications Engineer

MACOM is seeking a Principal Applications Engineer to serve as a senior technical leader for the MMIC Applications Engineering team at our North Carolina facility. This role is focused on customer and product support for GaN power amplifier products, both discrete and module related.

The successful candidate will combine deep RF and microwave power amplifier expertise with strong customer presence, practical lab capability, and the leadership maturity to drive difficult technical issues from initial customer concern through to field-ready guidance. This is a hands-on principal-level role. The ideal candidate is comfortable leading strategic customer engagements and technical reviews, but is equally willing to get into the lab, configure test systems, debug fixtures, collect data, help build or rework evaluation hardware when needed, and make practical progress under real-world constraints.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the senior applications engineering technical authority for assigned GaN power amplifier MMICs and selected module products supported from the North Carolina facility.
• Provide leadership on complex customer issues involving device performance, RF behavior, biasing, thermal operation, matching, stability, linearity, efficiency, ruggedness, and application integration.
• Support strategic customers through technical discussions, design-in guidance, measurement interpretation, troubleshooting, and clear recommendations that enable successful product adoption.
• Lead advanced laboratory investigations, including small-signal and large-signal characterization, pulsed and CW power testing, linearity and efficiency measurements, thermal evaluation, modulated signal analysis, and correlation of customer data to MACOM measurements.
• Develop and improve evaluation boards, test fixtures, reference circuits, application notes, datasheet content, design guidance, and customer-facing technical collateral for GaN PA products and modules.
• Work closely with design engineering, product engineering, product management, assembly, operations, quality, reliability, sales, and marketing to resolve technical issues and improve product usability.
• Mentor applications engineers and help establish practical best practices for GaN PA test methods, data quality, documentation, customer communication, and escalation management.
• Assist with hands-on lab execution as needed, including test setup, fixture debug, RF probing, board-level troubleshooting, and occasional practical assembly or rework activities such as soldering evaluation hardware.
• Represent MACOM as a trusted technical advisor during customer meetings, technical reviews, training sessions, and field escalations.

Technical Focus Areas:

• GaN RF and microwave power amplifier products
• Power amplifier operation, bias sequencing, impedance matching, gain compression, efficiency, linearity, harmonic behavior, thermal management, stability, and load sensitivity.
• Bench-level and system-level RF measurements using VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters, oscilloscopes, thermal tools, and load-pull or source-pull systems where applicable.
• Evaluation board design support, fixture development, hardware debug, data review, measurement correlation, and customer application support.
• Product collateral quality, including datasheets, application notes, design guides, test reports, simulation guidance, and presentation material.

Required Qualifications:

• BSEE or BSECE required; MSEE preferred.
• Typically 10+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent demonstrated expertise, in RF, microwave, semiconductor, MMIC, power amplifier, module, or high-frequency applications engineering.
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently on highly complex technical challenges and drive them to practical resolution.
• Strong customer-facing experience in a technically demanding engineering environment, including the ability to communicate clearly with expert customers and internal stakeholders.
• Hands-on laboratory experience with RF and microwave test equipment, measurement planning, debug, uncertainty awareness, data integrity, and repeatability.
• Practical…