RF Systems Engineer

PH-013 | Founding Technical Staff | Boston, MA | Onsite | $125K – $180K base + equity

About Prahelika

Prahelika is building the domestic integration layer: 3D systems in which III-V semiconductors, state-of-the-art silicon, and novel interposers are stacked into one device, each doing what it does best. We co-design the signal path, the power tier, the thermal path, and the manufacturing process, so dies from any foundry become a system that silicon alone cannot deliver. Our first 3D systems serve defense radar and low-Earth-orbit satellite communications; the same platform extends to power electronics, data-center compute, and photonics. Backed by top-tier investors and built by engineers who demonstrated every tier of the stack as measured hardware before the company existed, Prahelika owns the layer between the transistor and the machine. Ultimate electronics through integration.

The role

Whoever owns a design here sees it through fabrication, packaging, measurement, shipping, and the next revision. A radar channel or a satellite link is specified as a system: aperture, link budget, noise, linearity, power, and the regulatory mask it must meet. Someone has to turn that into what each die and each package layer must do, and then prove the assembled system meets the number.

You will own that translation. As our first RF systems engineer, you take customer and program requirements and derive the module and block specifications the RFIC/MMIC, EM, and analog engineers design to, you own the system budgets and the architecture of the front end, and you validate the assembled 3D system against them. You are the engineer a customer's systems team talks to.

Required qualifications

• M.S. with 5+ years, or Ph.D. with 2+ years, in RF or millimeter-wave systems engineering on hardware that shipped: radar, satellite, or wireless front ends. Equivalent practical experience may substitute for the degree requirement.

• Deep understanding of RF/mmWave front-end system architectures: T/R modules, phased arrays and beamformers, transceiver chains, and the trades between them.

• Experience deriving block-level specifications from system requirements (link budget, noise figure, linearity, EIRP, dynamic range) and validating hardware against them.

• Familiarity with FCC, 3GPP, and defense or space system requirements and how they constrain a front end.

• Working use of system simulation tools (Keysight SystemVue or ADS, MATLAB) and enough circuit and EM fluency to review a block design.

• Hands-on experience in at least two of the following:

  • Phased-array or beamformer system design, including calibration and element-level error budgets.

  • Satellite communication link design or terminal front-end architecture.

  • Radar front-end architecture and waveform-driven requirements.

  • System-level measurement of assembled modules: EIRP, EVM, ACPR, noise, and over-the-air characterization.

• This role involves work that may be subject to U.S. export-control laws. Prahelika assesses access requirements for the specific work and, where needed, evaluates available government authorization options before granting access to controlled technology. Program assignments are subject to applicable legal requirements.

Preferred qualifications

• Prior work at a defense prime or satellite operator on program requirements.

• Experience with heterogeneously integrated or chiplet-based front ends.

Responsibilities

• Own the system architecture and budgets for our RF products, and derive the block specifications each engineer designs to.

• Be the technical interface to customer and program systems teams, from requirements through acceptance.

• Validate assembled 3D systems against the system requirements, with the test and characterization engineer.

• Feed system-level trades back into the platform roadmap, and put the system budgets into the design kit.

How we work

• Engineers here work across the stack. Siloed circuit, device, and package engineers do not thrive at Prahelika; you will be expected to understand the neighboring disciplines well enough to argue with them.

• AI is a cornerstone of how we engineer. You will build your own workflows with tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Codex, compatible with Prahelika's AI ecosystem, with physically grounded checks on what they produce.

• No one is asked to cut a corner they would be ashamed to defend. If a deadline can only be met by skipping a reliability test, the deadline moves, and the engineer who refuses to sign off on something unsound is protected, not punished.

• Credit and authorship follow contribution, not seniority. If your name belongs on the work, it is there.

• Excellence of mind and body is a working condition, not a reward for finishing. Tired decisions end up in hardware; we expect you to sleep, train, and step away, and we do not mistake hours logged for work delivered.

Compensation and benefits

• $125K – $180K base salary plus founding-team equity. Final compensation depends on experience and skills.

• Full medical, dental, and vision coverage with HSA; 401(k) with 4% company match; daily meals.

How to apply

Apply using the form for this role. If available, please include a brief description of one project that best represents your work on this kind of problem; we read that more closely than a cover letter.

Prahelika is an equal opportunity employer. We hire on demonstrated ability, without regard to any protected characteristic.