RF Systems Engineer at Specter in San Francisco, CA

Company BackgroundSpecter's mission is to help automate the physical world.

Today, we build video sensors with state-of-the-art AI agents that answer any question, anywhere in their environments. Our systems can automatically detect and reason about any physical activity captured on camera, from security incidents (e.g. perimeter intrusion, theft, LPR), to safety monitoring (e.g. PPE detection, injured people), to operational efficiency (e.g. material tracking, congestion monitoring). We offer both long range wireless (1km range) and wired sensor variants to suit any deployment.

Our co-founders Xerxes and Philip are passionate about empowering our partners in the fast approaching world of physical AI and robotics. We are a small, fast growing team who hail from Anduril, Tesla, Uber, and the U.S. Special Forces.

**The Role**Specter is hiring an RF Systems Engineer to define and optimize the end-to-end wireless systems connecting thousands of edge devices across large, distributed environments. This role sits at the intersection of RF systems engineering, network architecture, modeling, and fleet-scale deployment.

You will own system-level models, simulations, and architectural decisions that shape how Specter’s sensors communicate—balancing long-range performance, power efficiency, resiliency, and cost. You’ll partner closely with RF, firmware, and software teams to design, validate, and deploy a robust multi-radio architecture across real-world industrial sites.

This role is deeply cross-functional and highly impactful: your work directly defines the wireless “fabric” that Specter’s perception platform operates on.

Responsibilities:

• Lead RF and wireless system architecture: modeling, trade studies, and performance validation across Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah), 802.11, LTE, 5G NR, and long-range sub-GHz systems
• Root-cause and optimize performance across PHY, MAC, and network layers
• Test interoperability with third-party devices and ensure standards compliance across multiple wireless subsystems
• Develop automated RF planning and deployment modeling tools, enabling topology optimization, coverage prediction, and pre-deployment performance estimation
• Collaborate with firmware and software teams to expose critical RF and network health metrics into the telemetry pipeline
• Define multi-radio system architectures for long-range backhaul and high-throughput paths across heterogeneous radios
• Build simulation, modeling, and test infrastructure (MATLAB, Simulink, NS-3, automated bench workflows)
• Drive field validation and OTA testing across industrial, logistics, and large-area deployments
• Work cross-functionally with hardware, firmware, and software teams to ensure reliable RF performance in complex environments
• Optimize end-to-end system behavior across routing, addressing, QoS, NAT, DHCP, VLANs, and multi-radio backhaul paths

Qualifications:

• Strong background in RF system modeling, link-level simulation, and channel modeling
• Deep expertise in 802.11 PHY/MAC—especially 802.11ah (HaLow)—or similar low-power, long-range RF technologies
• Experience with RF field surveys, propagation analysis, and deployment validation
• Strong experience configuring and debugging RF devices on Linux-based platforms
• Hands-on experience with RF/system modeling tools (MATLAB, Simulink, NS-3) and lab instrumentation (VNA, spectrum analyzer, OTA chambers)
• Experience supporting DVT, FCC/CE certification, production RF tuning, and large-scale operational deployments