RF Wireless Engineer

RF Wireless Engineer – Wi-Fi / IoT Hardware Integration

Location: Carlsbad, CA – 100% Onsite, 5 Days/Week

Pay Rate:$42–$48/hr W-2, DOE

Duration: 12-Month Assignment with Potential for Extension or Conversion

Schedule: Full-Time

Please scroll to the bottom of this posting to review an important Candidate Safety & Fraud Awareness Disclaimer from TCWGlobal.

About the Opportunity

We are seeking a hands-on RF Wireless Engineer to support the development, integration, and validation of next-generation connected consumer products, including Wi-Fi-enabled cameras, doorbells, and other IoT devices.

This is an excellent opportunity for an engineer who may be earlier in their RF/wireless career but has strong technical fundamentals, enjoys working directly with hardware, and wants exposure to the full product development lifecycle.

You do not need to be a senior or principal-level RF engineer. The team is particularly interested in someone who is curious, proactive, enthusiastic, and comfortable taking ownership of technical problems and figuring out solutions.

This is not a purely software, QA, or protocol-testing position. The ideal candidate will bring a combination of Wi-Fi/wireless knowledge, hands-on hardware testing, RF validation, debugging, and hardware/firmware integration experience.

What You'll Do

• Support the integration, bring-up, debugging, and validation of wireless hardware for connected IoT products.
• Test and evaluate Wi-Fi connectivity and performance, including how reliably devices connect and communicate with other Wi-Fi devices.
• Work hands-on with PCBAs, wireless modules, antennas, RF components, and embedded hardware.
• Perform RF validation, characterization, and wireless performance testing.
• Troubleshoot connectivity and performance issues at the hardware, firmware, and system level.
• Assist with firmware-related hardware bring-up and use command-line tools or scripts during testing and debugging.
• Investigate technical issues independently, identify root causes, and work with the broader engineering team to implement solutions.
• Support RF areas such as impedance matching, transmission lines, S-parameters, RF component selection, and EMI/EMC troubleshooting, depending on experience.
• Participate in antenna testing, tuning, and optimization; direct antenna design experience is highly desirable but not required.
• Collaborate closely with hardware, firmware, software, mechanical, manufacturing, and test engineers.
• Work with overseas engineering and ODM teams, which may occasionally require evening meetings.
• Gain exposure to products from early development and integration through validation and production.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Approximately 2–5 years of relevant RF, wireless, hardware, firmware, validation, or systems integration experience; strong candidates with somewhat less experience may also be considered.
• Hands-on experience with Wi-Fi, RF, wireless connectivity, or embedded wireless products.
• Understanding of 802.11 Wi-Fi technologies such as a/b/g/n/ac/ax.
• Exposure to Wi-Fi PHY, wireless performance testing, RF validation, or connectivity debugging.
• Experience working directly with hardware/PCBAs, wireless modules, RF components, or embedded systems.
• Ability to troubleshoot technical problems rather than simply execute predefined test cases.
• Experience with hardware/firmware integration or bring-up is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with command-line tools, scripting, or test automation is beneficial.
• Experience with cellular, IoT, Bluetooth, or other wireless technologies can be transferable if paired with strong hands-on hardware and debugging skills.

Especially Valuable Experience

You don't need to have everything below. The team is particularly interested in candidates with exposure to one or more of these areas:

• Wi-Fi performance testing and validation
• Wi-Fi PHY and MAC/PHY firmware or driver bring-up
• RF circuit debugging
• PCB/PCBA bring-up
• Antenna design, testing, or tuning
• Impedance matching and matching networks
• Transmission lines and S-parameters
• RF filters, switches, amplifiers, or front-end components
• Spectrum analyzers, VNAs, signal generators, or other RF lab equipment
• EMI/EMC troubleshooting
• Embedded firmware debugging
• Command-line scripting or test automation
• Consumer electronics, connected devices, IoT, smartphones, wireless modules, or similar products

What Will Make Someone Successful

The team is not looking for the most senior RF engineer in the market. They're looking for someone who enjoys being in the lab and wants to become deeply involved in how the product works.

You should be someone who can be given a problem, think through what needs to be tested, get hands-on with the device, troubleshoot what isn't working, and take ownership of driving toward a solution.

Because this is a smaller, highly collaborative engineering environment, you'll have an opportunity to understand much more than one isolated component of the product and contribute across integration, development, bring-up, debugging, validation, and performance optimization.

Logistics

This is a 12-month W-2 assignment with potential for extension or conversion based on business needs and performance. The position requires working onsite in Carlsbad, California five days per week and offers $42–$48/hour W-2, depending on relevant experience. Candidates should also be comfortable occasionally collaborating with overseas teams during evening hours.

TCWGlobal is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on age, ethnicity, gender, nationality, religious belief, or sexual orientation. 

Important Candidate Safety Notice

This position has been verified and officially approved by TCWGlobal.

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