Freelance Rf Design Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Communication Technology Services (CTS) is one of the largest integrators and managed service providers in the U.S., specializing in the design, installation and support of Distributed Antenna System (DAS), Small Cell, and 4G/5G Private Wireless Networks. We are seeking an experienced RF Design Engineer to support our Southern California region, along with supporting our Southwest region (AZ,NM,NV).
Job Title: RF Design Engineer
Position Summary
The RF Design Engineer is responsible for developing, validating, and maintaining RF system designs that meet wireless carrier technical standards, performance KPIs, and regulatory requirements. This role focuses on ensuring RF designs comply with carrier specifications, maintaining accurate design data within third-party carrier databases, and supporting the company's sales engineering and project delivery teams with technically sound RF solutions.
The RF Design Engineer ensures that RF designs meet coverage, capacity, and performance requirements while remaining practical and constructible in real-world environments.
The ideal candidate brings strong experience designing in-building wireless systems across multiple DAS OEM platforms and carrier small cell solutions.
Key Responsibilities
RF Design & System Performance
• Develop RF system designs for in-building wireless systems including DAS and operator-grade small cell networks to meet carrier coverage, capacity, and signal quality requirements.
• Perform RF modeling, propagation analysis, and system performance predictions using industry-standard tools such as iBwave, Atoll, Planet, or equivalent platforms.
• Design antenna layouts, signal distribution architecture, equipment selection, and system configurations for multi-carrier deployments.
• Validate RF system performance against carrier-defined KPIs including RSSI/RSRP, SINR, throughput, interference levels, and coverage targets.
• Support system troubleshooting and optimization to ensure systems meet required performance thresholds.
Carrier Compliance & Technical Standards
• Ensure RF designs meet wireless carrier engineering standards, deployment guidelines, and compliance requirements.
• Review and validate RF design packages prior to submission to carriers, neutral-host providers, or enterprise clients.
• Maintain working knowledge of evolving carrier spectrum allocations, frequency bands, and technology requirements (LTE, 5G, CBRS, etc.).
• Address carrier review comments and ensure technical documentation meets submission requirements.
• Support design validation to ensure system architecture meets operator acceptance criteria.
Third-Party Database & Data Management
• Manage RF design data and updates within carrier engineering databases and third-party design platforms.
• Maintain accurate system configuration data, RF parameters, and equipment information across required databases.
• Ensure data integrity and consistency between internal systems and carrier databases throughout the project lifecycle.
• Update system parameters and documentation to reflect design revisions, engineering changes, and field modifications.
• Support internal reporting related to RF design status, system readiness, and performance metrics.
Sales Engineering & Technical Proposal Support
• Provide RF design expertise in support of sales engineering and business development initiatives.
• Develop conceptual RF system designs and coverage strategies for new opportunities and client proposals.
• Assist in defining technical scope, preliminary system architecture, and bill-of-materials development.
• Collaborate with engineering and sales teams to develop technically compliant and cost-effective wireless solutions.
• Support technical discussions and design presentations during pre-sales engagements when required.
Design Documentation & Deliverables
• Prepare RF design documentation including predictive coverage maps, antenna layouts, signal level heatmaps, system schematics, and equipment specifications.
• Produce RF design packages suitable for internal review, client approval, and carrier submission.
• Maintain version control and documentation of RF design revisions.
• Support development of accurate as-built RF documentation following installation and commissioning.
Required Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience).
• 3-7 years of experience in RF design for in-building wireless systems, DAS, or small cell networks.
• Strong understanding of RF fundamentals including propagation, signal quality, interference, and network performance metrics.
• Experience using RF design tools such as iBwave, Atoll, Planet, or equivalent modeling platforms.
• Experience designing systems that comply with major wireless carrier standards and technical requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
• Direct experience designing systems utilizing DAS platforms from ADRF, Corning, CommScope, JMA, or SOLiD.
• Experience designing operator-grade small cell solutions from Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, or Airspan/SpiderCloud.
• Experience supporting multi-carrier and neutral-host in-building deployments.
• Familiarity with carrier engineering databases and design submission platforms.
• Experience supporting technical proposals and sales engineering activities.
Salary of $90-130k.Pay commensurate with experience
This is full time position and we offer benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid Time Off (PTO), Paid Holidays, Life Insurance and 401K.