RF Engineer

Founded in 1999, Access Laser is a leader in designing and manufacturing high-end CO2 lasers. We are a rapidly growing company, experiencing double-digit revenue growth in recent years. We provide leading-edge gas-discharge-excited laser technologies to global industries in the medical, semiconductor, electronic, manufacturing, and scientific development R&D markets. We focus on creative designs that match our customers’ applications and solve difficult problems with innovative solutions. We strive to provide a challenging and supportive environment where team members are encouraged to go beyond ordinary thinking and challenge the normal with the truly ingenious. Our team is our greatest asset and supporting their career development is the greatest investment we can make in our future.

In October 2017 we became a member of the TRUMPF Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of lasers and laser systems. Although we have retained the agility and flexibility of a small company, both our business and our employees now have access to new opportunities for growth.

Summary of role:

Looking for engineering work that goes beyond the ordinary? Join a team whose work enables some of the world's most advanced scientific and industrial applications. We don't just build lasers—our precision laser systems support groundbreaking research, next-generation manufacturing, fusion energy development and advanced medical technologies. If you enjoy solving complex real-world problems, pushing technical boundaries, and want to see your work make a meaningful impact, you'll find exciting opportunities here. This is a hands-on individual contributor role for an electrical engineer with deep RF power experience to design, validate, and release RF, analog, and mixed mode circuits and systems for RF driven molecular CO2 laser products. The primary emphasis is new RF design, proof of concept development, prototype validation, product release, and design rigor for high power RF amplifier and matching network designs operating in real product environments where plasma/load interaction, impedance variation, thermal behavior, EMC, manufacturability, and long-term reliability all interact. The successful candidate will take technical ownership of assigned RF designs from concept through release and design continuity while working closely with optical, mechanical, manufacturing, quality, service, supplier, and customer facing teams.

What Success Looks Like:

• Develop RF power designs that meet efficiency, stability, EMC, thermal, reliability, manufacturability, and serviceability requirements.
• Translate product and system needs to clear RF specifications, design tradeoffs, test plans, and verification evidence.
• Bring proof of concept and prototype designs through lab validation with disciplined measurement, documentation, and risk-based decision making.
• Improve RF design quality through practical failure analysis, clear design reviews, and reusable engineering knowledge.

Primary Duties:

• Design, simulate, model, and validate RF, analog, and mixed mode circuits and systems, with a focus on high power RF amplifiers from 100 W to multi kilowatt levels in the 10s to 100s MHz range, matching networks, combiners, VSWR/protection circuits, power oscillators, and related CO2 laser subsystems.
• Develop and own proof of concept and prototype designs, including requirements definition, circuit analysis and simulation, schematic capture, PCB layout guidance, lab bring up, troubleshooting, optimization, and documentation.
• Analyze high power RF behavior in real operating conditions, including nonlinear amplifier behavior, impedance variation, plasma/load interaction, thermal constraints, layout parasitic, EMC behavior, and failure modes.
• Translate product and system requirements into well-defined technical specifications, test plans, design review material, verification evidence, and risk mitigation plans.
• Conduct RF measurements and validation using vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, power meters, oscilloscopes, directional couplers, RF loads, thermal instrumentation, and related RF measurement equipment.
• Identify and resolve RF design challenges to improve efficiency, stability, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, and long-term product performance.
• Collaborate with cross functional teams, including optical, mechanical, manufacturing, quality, service, suppliers, and customers, to support integration and successful product launches.
• Contribute to technical documentation, design standards, lessons learned, and knowledge sharing that improve RF design rigor within the team.

Core Job Requirements:

• M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience, or B.Sc. with more than 7 years of relevant experience. Equivalent depth may be considered for candidates with strong RF design ownership and hands on product development experience. Demonstrated hands on ownership of RF power design through at least one meaningful lifecycle phase, such as concept development, prototype validation, product release, design continuity, or significant redesign.
• Strong understanding and practical application of circuit theory, RF power amplifier design, impedance matching, RF measurements, thermal constraints, layout parasitics, and high-power implementation limits.
• Experience with RF power amplifier topologies and practical implementation challenges, including Class E, Class F, inverse Class F, matching networks, device limitations, load sensitivity, and high-power RF measurement.
• Ability to independently investigate difficult technical problems, define an engineering approach, execute simulation and bench work, and communicate clear conclusions and recommendations.
• Experience with EDA tools for schematic capture and PCB layout, such as Altium.
• Experience with RF simulation software, such as ADS or AWR.
• Working knowledge of designing and testing for EMC or similar regulatory requirements in high power electronic products.
• Proficiency with lab test equipment, including vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, power meters, oscilloscopes, and related RF measurement equipment.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with excellent written and verbal communication abilities and disciplined technical documentation.

Highly Desirable Additional Skills/Experience:

• In depth understanding of physical phenomena involved in high power and high frequency circuit design, including nonlinear behavior, thermal behavior, parasitic, and load dependent performance.
• Experience with RF driven lasers, CO2 laser systems, plasma loads, or other high power industrial RF applications.
• Experience taking an RF design from concept through qualification, release, or product lifecycle support.
• Experience debugging high power RF failures in the lab or in released products.
• Experience with microwave engineering concepts, including distributed circuits and transmission lines.
• Familiarity with synthesizers, PLLs, mixers, switching power supplies, and other adjacent RF/analog building blocks.
• Ability to interact with suppliers and external partners to support product quality, component selection, compliance, and project execution.
• Experience using Product Lifecycle Management tools, such as Agile.
• Commitment to scientific rigor, technical documentation quality, knowledge sharing, and individual skills advancement within the company's technical team.

Why work for us

At our core, we are an idea company, which is driving expansion and tremendous revenue growth. We are customer driven and design application specific products which fit the individual needs of our customers. This requires highly motivated and dedicated teams. You will have the opportunity to be innovative in your work as we are constantly evolving our products and solving new problems with our customers. We owe our success to our people. We take great pride in investing in our team and strive to continually grow and improve our company and culture. 

We love what we do. Our goal is to go above and beyond for each other and our customers. Our teams are creative, smart and talented, which makes each project exciting. You will have plenty of guidance and support to help us continue moving our impactful technology to the next level.

TRUMPF, our parent company, shares the same core values, and supports both our team and our drive for continuous innovation in laser technology. We are proud to be part of one of the largest technology companies led by a woman.

Things we love here:

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or other classes protected by law.

We are committed to providing opportunities to all qualified individuals. If you need assistance completing our online application due to a physical or mental impairment, please email [email protected] or call 425-382-2217.