Principal Radio Frequency Engineer

Principal Radio Frequency Engineer

This position is a paid Internship and requires the candidate to be currently enrolled in an accredited industry trade certification, college, or university program. This position requires that the candidate work onsite at our facility in Prescott, AZ and is not eligible for remote work .

**This position must meet Export Control compliance requirements, therefore a “US Person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 is required. “US Person” includes US Citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee.  In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.**

Canyon AeroConnect  stands as one of the world’s leading suppliers of avionic-standard aircraft communications, navigation and audio/intercom systems. Canyon’s products have been widely adopted and proven in-service across a wide range of civilian, paramilitary and military fixed-wing and rotorcraft applications. Over the years, we’ve become known as the benchmark in aircraft tactical communication and audio equipment for Air Ambulance, Law Enforcement, SAR, EMS, Electronic News Gathering, Military and Marine applications. Products include digital and analog radio/audio management systems, Tac/Com, VHF/UHF radio systems, intercoms, data interface accessories, and aural warning.

Key Responsibilities

- Lead RF architecture, design evaluation, integration, verification, and sustaining engineering for VHF/UHF and wideband airborne radio platforms, as applicable to assigned programs.

- Evaluate receiver sensitivity, selectivity, blocking, intermodulation, desensitization, squelch, phase noise, spurious responses, spectral purity, transmitter power, modulation quality, and frequency stability against allocated requirements.

- Develop, review, and execute RF test plans, acceptance criteria, characterization methods, and requirement-to-evidence matrices; reconcile component-, module-, LRU-, and system-level verification results.

- Diagnose RF issues involving front-end filtering, preselectors, switching, synthesizers, mixers, amplifiers, power amplifiers, impedance matching, and RF/control interfaces.

- Lead complex cosite and interference investigations, including antenna isolation, adjacent-channel effects, filter-bank behavior, and installation-level interactions, with evidence-based recommendations.

- Provide technical direction on RF calibration, alignment, automated production testing, test limits, and measurement-system integrity; partner with Test and Manufacturing Engineering on repeatability and yield.

- Plan and interpret RF environmental and EMC/EMI qualification, as applicable to program baselines, including DO-160, MIL-STD-461 and relevant radio-performance standards such as TIA-603.

- Own or lead failure analysis and corrective-action activities for field returns, production escapes, and reliability trends; define experiments and validate permanent fixes.

- Serve as an RF technical reviewer for design reviews, customer discussions, supplier assessments, engineering changes, qualification reports, and configuration-control decisions.

- Mentor less experienced engineers, coach disciplined requirements-driven problem solving, and communicate technical tradeoffs, cost/schedule risks, and evidence gaps to leadership.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field and typically 8+ years of relevant RF design, integration, verification, or sustaining-engineering experience; comparable expertise may be considered.

- Deep practical knowledge of RF communication systems and troubleshooting at circuit, module, transceiver, and installed-system levels.

- Demonstrated proficiency with spectrum analyzers, vector network analyzers, signal generators, power meters, noise-figure/sensitivity methods, and relevant RF test automation.

- Strong understanding of RF measurements, uncertainty, calibration, link budgets, system-level interference mechanisms, and systematic root-cause investigations.

- Ability to independently lead technical reviews and produce clear, defensible analysis and verification documentation.

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience with airborne communications, public-safety radio, mission-critical transceivers, wideband receivers, or avionics integration.

- Working knowledge of DO-160, MIL-STD-461, TIA-603, AS9100, and controlled certification/qualification evidence processes.

- Experience with RF simulation/design tools (e.g., ADS, AWR, HFSS or equivalent), scripting, test automation, and statistical performance analysis.

- Experience investigating cosite interference, receiver desense, antenna coupling, RF filters/preselectors, synthesizer behavior, and transmitter-receiver interactions.

- Proven success leading design improvements through qualification, manufacturing transfer, field reliability recovery, or product sustainment.

Measures of Success

- Requirements-based RF performance demonstrated by repeatable tests and auditable evidence.

- Reduced RF-related escapes and recurrence through validated corrective actions.

- Improved system performance, production-test capability, and RF manufacturing yields.

- Strong cross-functional technical leadership, timely risk escalation, and development of RF engineering capability.

Role Expectations and Working Conditions

- Collaborates across engineering, manufacturing, test, quality, supply chain, program management, and external technical stakeholders.

- Work is primarily office/laboratory based with occasional factory-floor activity and potential program-related travel.

- Must follow site safety, ESD, quality, document-control, and information-security procedures.

This job description is not intended to be all inclusive of every job function, duty and responsibility. Duties may increase, decrease and/or change as deemed necessary to support the department operations.

Canyon AeroConnect is an Equal Opportunity Employer and federal contractor committed to affirmative action. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

As a federal contractor, we take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. This position is being listed in accordance with federal contractor obligations under 41 CFR 60-300 and 41 CFR 60-741.

If you require reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, participate in the interview process, or perform essential job functions, please contact Human Resources at charlene.mackelprang@canyonaero.com or 928-708-1550.