TITLE Sr. / Principal R&D Engineer, RF & Implant Power
DATE November 2026
WORK LOCATION
In-Office 5x/week in San Diego
BASE SALARY RANGE
$160k - $200k/year About the Role We 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. Electromagnetic 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.
Key Responsibilities
RF, Telemetry & Antennas
- Define the implant's wireless architecture for control and high-rate neural data; select transceiver ICs and wireless SoCs against throughput, power, size, and coexistence
- Derive and maintain link budgets through tissue, enclosure, and header; design RF front ends, matching, and RF layout
- Design and integrate implant and external antennas, accounting for tissue loading, detuning, efficiency, and SAR; validate in tissue phantoms
- Lead radio regulatory and wireless coexistence testing (FCC Part 15, ETSI, IEC 60601-1-2, AAMI TIR69)
Inductive Power, Battery & Implant Power System
- Design the inductive power link: coils, resonant tuning, power amplifier, rectification and regulation, alignment and load tolerance, back-telemetry
- Own the implant power architecture: rechargeable cell selection, charging and protection, fuel gauging, power management, and power budgets
- Design for single-fault safety with protection circuits, redundant disconnects, and defined safe states; hold tissue heating within ISO 14708-1 limits
- Lead battery qualification (IEC 62133, UN 38.3, cycle life, abuse testing) and address MRI constraints on coils and magnetic materials
EM Modeling, Design & Verification
- Build COMSOL models (RF, AC/DC, Heat Transfer, bioheat) for antennas, coils, SAR, and tissue heating; correlate with bench measurements
- Lead RF and power schematic design, component selection, and layout in Altium for miniaturized PCB and flex-rigid assemblies
- Define 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)
- Provide technical direction to external design partners and work with firmware, FPGA, mechanical, and systems engineers through bring-up and production transfer
Required Qualifications
- BS in electrical engineering or related discipline; MS preferred
- Senior: 8+ years in RF and/or power hardware design. Principal: 12+ years, including RF or power architecture ownership
- Hands-on RF design for shipped wireless products: transceiver selection, front-end and matching design, RF layout, link budgets
- Antenna design for compact, body-worn, or implanted devices, validated by measurement
- Inductive power transfer or wireless charging design, built and characterized on the bench
- Li-ion battery charging, protection, and power management in compact battery-powered products
- EM simulation (COMSOL, HFSS, or CST) used to drive design decisions and correlated with measurements
- Proficiency with VNA, spectrum analyzer, RF power meters, and oscilloscopes; high-density PCB design in Altium
- Experience taking electronics from prototype through design verification into production
Preferred Qualifications
- COMSOL Multiphysics expertise (RF, AC/DC, Heat Transfer), including bioheat, SAR, and coil-coupling models - highly desired
- High-throughput radio integration and wireless coexistence design
- Active implantable medical device experience (neurostimulators, cochlear implants, cardiac rhythm devices)
- Implant battery qualification and design to ISO 14708-1 thermal limits; MRI-conditional design (ASTM F2182/F2213, ISO/TS 10974)
- Antenna and coil integration with hermetic enclosures, feedthroughs, and polymer headers
- Embedded C for radio and charger drivers; experience supporting IDE, PMA, or 510(k) submissions