{"id":3888087,"url":"https://alion.io/job/synchron-principal-rd-engineer-rf-impant-power","title":"Principal R&D Engineer, RF & Impant Power","company":{"id":63210,"name":"Synchron","domain":"synchron.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/synchron","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"ADP","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":83,"open_postings":3,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.667,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":39,"computed_at":"2026-11-09T06:03:00Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Diego, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":160000,"max":200000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":200000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":12,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Design Controls","optional":false},{"name":"IEC 60601","optional":false},{"name":"Ion Implantation","optional":false},{"name":"ISO 14971","optional":false},{"name":"C","optional":true},{"name":"Embedded C","optional":true},{"name":"FDA 510(k)","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-06T20:18:43Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-06","last_verified_at":"2026-11-09T22:31:48Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":3,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":3},"description":"TITLE\nSr. / Principal R&D Engineer, RF & Implant Power\nDATE\nNovember 2026\nWORK LOCATION\nIn-Office 5x/week in San Diego\nBASE SALARY RANGE\n$160k - $200k/yearAbout the Role\nWe are seeking a Senior or Principal R&D Electrical Engineer to own the RF and power electronics of Synchron's next-generation implantable electronics, from concept through design verification. The role covers the implant's wireless telemetry links, including transceiver IC selection, RF board design, and antenna design within a hermetic implant and its external devices. It also owns the implant power system: the inductive power link, battery charging, and power management for a rechargeable implant, designed to thermal and safety limits within a medical device design-controls framework.\nElectromagnetic finite-element modeling, particularly in COMSOL Multiphysics, is central to the role: simulating antennas, coils, tissue heating, and SAR to drive design decisions ahead of hardware. FPGA and firmware are owned by dedicated engineers; this role partners closely with both and provides technical direction to external design partners. A Principal engineer also sets RF and power architecture across product generations and mentors the team.\nKey Responsibilities\nRF, Telemetry & Antennas\nDefine the implant's wireless architecture for control and high-rate neural data; select transceiver ICs and wireless SoCs against throughput, power, size, and coexistence\nDerive and maintain link budgets through tissue, enclosure, and header; design RF front ends, matching, and RF layout\nDesign and integrate implant and external antennas, accounting for tissue loading, detuning, efficiency, and SAR; validate in tissue phantoms\nLead radio regulatory and wireless coexistence testing (FCC Part 15, ETSI, IEC 60601-1-2, AAMI TIR69)\nInductive Power, Battery & Implant Power System\nDesign the inductive power link: coils, resonant tuning, power amplifier, rectification and regulation, alignment and load tolerance, back-telemetry\nOwn the implant power architecture: rechargeable cell selection, charging and protection, fuel gauging, power management, and power budgets\nDesign for single-fault safety with protection circuits, redundant disconnects, and defined safe states; hold tissue heating within ISO 14708-1 limits\nLead battery qualification (IEC 62133, UN 38.3, cycle life, abuse testing) and address MRI constraints on coils and magnetic materials\nEM Modeling, Design & Verification\nBuild COMSOL models (RF, AC/DC, Heat Transfer, bioheat) for antennas, coils, SAR, and tissue heating; correlate with bench measurements\nLead RF and power schematic design, component selection, and layout in Altium for miniaturized PCB and flex-rigid assemblies\nDefine and execute RF and power verification; lead EMC/EMI and safety testing and failure analysis within design controls (ISO 14708, IEC 60601-1, ISO 14971)\nProvide technical direction to external design partners and work with firmware, FPGA, mechanical, and systems engineers through bring-up and production transfer\nRequired Qualifications\nBS in electrical engineering or related discipline; MS preferred\nSenior: 8+ years in RF and/or power hardware design. Principal: 12+ years, including RF or power architecture ownership\nHands-on RF design for shipped wireless products: transceiver selection, front-end and matching design, RF layout, link budgets\nAntenna design for compact, body-worn, or implanted devices, validated by measurement\nInductive power transfer or wireless charging design, built and characterized on the bench\nLi-ion battery charging, protection, and power management in compact battery-powered products\nEM simulation (COMSOL, HFSS, or CST) used to drive design decisions and correlated with measurements\nProficiency with VNA, spectrum analyzer, RF power meters, and oscilloscopes; high-density PCB design in Altium\nExperience taking electronics from prototype through design verification into production\nPreferred Qualifications\n COMSOL Multiphysics expertise (RF, AC/DC, Heat Transfer), including bioheat, SAR, and coil-coupling models - highly desired\nHigh-throughput radio integration and wireless coexistence design\nActive implantable medical device experience (neurostimulators, cochlear implants, cardiac rhythm devices)\nImplant battery qualification and design to ISO 14708-1 thermal limits; MRI-conditional design (ASTM F2182/F2213, ISO/TS 10974)\nAntenna and coil integration with hermetic enclosures, feedthroughs, and polymer headers\nEmbedded C for radio and charger drivers; experience supporting IDE, PMA, or 510(k) submissions","description_format":"text","description_chars":4583,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":12,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Biomedical Engineering","Neurotech & Neuromodulation"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-06T20:18:43Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"adverts_offering_sponsorship_24m":0,"sanctioned_now":false,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 1 · green card filings: 2","filings_12m":1,"filings_prev_12m":0,"green_card_filings_12m":2,"median_offered_wage_usd":149167,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-11-09T07:32:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":2,"expected_fill_days":39,"reasons":["conf:1","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-11-09T06:03:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":200000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/synchron-principal-rd-engineer-rf-impant-power","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/synchron-principal-rd-engineer-rf-impant-power.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-10T06:42:39Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":15625,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-11T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":63210},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=63210"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fsynchron-principal-rd-engineer-rf-impant-power"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fsynchron-principal-rd-engineer-rf-impant-power"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fsynchron-principal-rd-engineer-rf-impant-power"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/synchron-principal-rd-engineer-rf-impant-power\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fsynchron-principal-rd-engineer-rf-impant-power"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3888087}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"synchron.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3888087},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); 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