This role pays more than
50%
of similar roles. Most pay
$159,700–$214,000
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$185k
versus about
$187k
for comparable roles.
Based on 240 similar postings.
Employer
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm is a leading American semiconductor and telecommunications company based in San Diego, CA.
Qualcomm currently has
623 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$148,300–$222,500
across 603 roles with salary data.
Staff Radio Frequency Hardware Engineer serves as a technical leader within the Cellular Technologies team, defining RF system architecture and technology strategy for advanced wireless platforms. This role involves leading the development of complex RF solutions from concept to prototype while resolving critical issues involving antenna systems, modem interactions, and signal processing. The engineer will manage the design, integration, and validation of components such as power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, front-end modules, filters, duplexers, phased arrays, mixers, and synthesizers. Key responsibilities include performing tradeoff analyses for cost, power, and thermal management while developing advanced system models to analyze nonlinear behavior and cascaded impairments. The role focuses on the technical challenges of 5G Advanced and 6G technologies, requiring expertise in RF hardware design, waveform-to-hardware co-optimization, and wireless standards development to shape future communication infrastructures.
Define and lead RF system architecture for advanced wireless platforms and next-generation products.
Drive partitioning and tradeoff analysis across RF hardware, ICs, antennas, modems, and software domains.
Lead the design, integration, and optimization of complex subsystems like power amplifiers, filters, and phased arrays.
Develop and validate advanced RF system models and simulation environments to analyze nonlinear behavior.
Lead RF bring-up, debugging, characterization, and root-cause analysis for prototype and production hardware.
Identify and develop new RF technologies while contributing to patent generation and intellectual property strategy.
Contribute to wireless standards development and technical proposals for 5G Advanced and 6G technologies.
What we're looking for
A Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field and 8+ years of relevant industry experience.
A Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related discipline and 5+ years of industry or post-doctoral experience.
A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field and 4+ years of electrical or hardware engineering experience.
A Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field and 3+ years of electrical or hardware engineering experience.
A PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field and 2+ years of electrical or hardware engineering experience.
Expertise in RF system design, signal processing, antenna systems, and cross-domain integration for advanced wireless platforms.
Experience designing and optimizing RF subsystems including power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, front-end modules, filters, and phased arrays.
Ability to develop and validate advanced RF system models, simulation environments, and perform root-cause analysis for hardware issues.
RF Systems
Radio Hardware
Firmware
ASIC Design
Signal Characterization
Antenna Concepts
Digital Interfaces
Product Development Lifecycle
Hardware Characterization
Power Management
Protocol Stack
Test Mode Interfaces
Circuit Design
Analog
Digital
RF
Schematic Capture
Circuit Simulation
Oscilloscopes
Spectrum Analyzers
Signal Integrity
Power Integrity
System on Chip
Hardware Engineering
Electronic Systems
DSP
Packaging
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
RF Circuit Design
Antenna Systems
Matching Networks
VNA
Spectrum Analyzers
Signal Generators
Oscilloscopes
HFSS
CST
Python
C#
LabVIEW
Over-the-Air (OTA) Testing
EMC
FCC
ISED
ETSI
Bluetooth SIG