Freelance Rf Antenna Design Engineer Jobs in Florida

The Defense Systems Group at Leidos has an immediate opening for a Senior RF / Antenna Engineer at our St. Petersburg, FL facility. This position supports the development, integration, and testing of advanced RF and phased array antenna systems for mission‑critical defense applications.

In this role, you will contribute to the architecture, design, analysis, and integration of complex RF antenna systems supporting Department of Defense and national security customers. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary engineering teams and interface with systems engineering, program leadership, and customers to deliver innovative solutions for challenging operational environments.

The St. Petersburg facility specializes in the design, modeling and simulation, prototyping, integration, and testing of advanced electronic systems, with a focus on embedded communications systems, Software Defined Radios (SDR), phased array antenna systems, and secure RF architectures operating in contested and denied environments.

• Design, analyze, and optimize RF and antenna subsystems.
• Perform electromagnetic simulations and validate performance through laboratory and field testing.
• Support system architecture development and RF link analysis.
• Develop antenna concepts and perform trade studies for performance, size, weight, and power constraints.
• Conduct RF measurements, debugging, and performance characterization.
• Support integration of RF hardware into larger system architectures.
• Prepare technical documentation, test reports, and engineering presentations.
• Collaborate with systems, mechanical, digital, and software engineering teams.
• Participate in design reviews and technical assessments.
• Support proposal efforts and customer technical discussions as needed.

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Security Clearance.
• Willingness to work in classified laboratory environments and support secure development, integration, and test activities.
• Ability to comply with all program‑specific security requirements, including handling of classified materials and controlled technical data (ITAR/EAR).

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electromagnetics, Physics, or related technical discipline with 4-8 years of relevant experience; OR
• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electromagnetics, Physics, or related technical discipline with 2-6 years of relevant experience.
• Strong understanding of RF and microwave engineering fundamentals.
• Experience with antenna design, analysis, and testing.
• Familiarity with electromagnetic simulation and modeling tools such as HFSS, CST, FEKO, ADS, or similar.
• Experience with RF test equipment including VNAs, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power meters, and oscilloscopes.
• Knowledge of RF propagation, impedance matching, link budgets, and system‑level RF performance.
• Ability to analyze technical data and troubleshoot RF system issues.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative engineering environment.
• U.S. citizenship required.

• Experience supporting DoD, aerospace, defense, or government programs.
• Experience supporting phased array or advanced antenna system development efforts.
• Familiarity with planar or conformal array architectures and beamforming concepts.
• Familiarity with antenna measurement techniques including near‑field and far‑field testing.
• Proficiency with electromagnetic simulation and modeling tools such as HFSS, FEKO, CST, or equivalent, and familiarity with MATLAB or similar analysis tools.
• Experience with phased arrays, beamforming, EW systems, radar systems, SATCOM, or tactical communications.
• Familiarity with mutual coupling effects, scan performance, sidelobe control, and array calibration principles.
• Experience designing wideband, multi‑band, or conformal antennas.
• Knowledge of EMI/EMC principles and testing.
• Experience with MATLAB, Python, or other scripting/analysis tools.
• Familiarity with RF PCB design and microwave components.
• Active Secret or Top Secret clearance preferred.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.