RF Test & Automation Engineer Job San Francisco area,California USA,Engineering

Who is Elve?

Elve, Inc. is a deep-tech startup with a factory in Davis, CA & Customer Experience center in San Francisco, CA, specializing in designing and manufacturing high-efficiency, lightweight millimeter-wave and near-THz RF power amplifiers. Our technology enables high-performance wireless communications for applications ranging from satellite communications to advanced terrestrial systems.

We are looking for engineers to join our team and help develop and manufacture cutting-edge RF technology. If you are passionate about RF systems, test automation, hardware, and building tools that directly improve how products are tested and manufactured, we want to hear from you.

Job Description

The RF Test Automation Engineer will develop, automate, and maintain RF test procedures and the software frameworks used to support production and engineering testing.

This role requires a strong foundation in RF testing combined with the ability to develop and maintain production-quality software. The engineer will translate engineering requirements into useful and technically valid RF test procedures, automate those procedures within reusable test frameworks, and support their continued use and improvement across production.

This is a highly hands-on role. The ideal candidate is comfortable working across RF hardware, test instrumentation, software, and production systems and troubleshooting issues that may span all of those areas.

Key Responsibilities

Develop RF test procedures based on engineering and product requirements
Automate RF testing using reusable and maintainable software frameworks
Develop and maintain test software, including data acquisition, processing, logging, and reporting
Interface with RF test equipment such as VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters, and related instrumentation
Troubleshoot issues spanning test software, instrumentation, test setups, and RF hardware
Partner with RF, test, manufacturing, and product engineers to improve test coverage, repeatability, and throughput
Implement appropriate software debugging, logging, error handling, and version control practices
Prepare for and participate in live customer product demonstrations
Document test methods, software, and results clearly for engineering and production users

Required Qualifications

Strong understanding of RF fundamentals and common RF parameters, including S-parameters, gain, output power, noise power, compression, and linearity
Hands-on experience using RF test equipment such as vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and vector signal generators
Experience with object-oriented programming in Python and/or C++
Experience using version control systems such as Git
Understanding of software debugging, logging, and error-handling practices
Ability to troubleshoot problems spanning software, instrumentation, and RF hardware
Ability to translate engineering requirements into practical and repeatable test procedures
Strong communication and technical documentation skills
Comfortable working directly with hardware and production test systems in a hands-on environment

Preferred Qualifications

Experience developing and automating RF test routines from engineering requirements
Experience with RF instrument automation using SCPI, VISA, or similar interfaces
Experience with VNA calibration and de-embedding techniques
Experience developing and maintaining data acquisition, processing, and reporting frameworks
Understanding of RF linearity metrics such as EVM, NPR, ACPR, and C/3IM
Experience with high-power RF testing
Experience with millimeter-wave RF systems
Background in RF systems, signal processing, RF design, or RF data analysis
Experience with environmental or qualification testing
2+ years of relevant engineering…