Staff Validation Engineer - Wireless Radio LeadAustin, Texas, United StatesAmbiq is on a mission to enable intelligence everywhere — powering the AI edge revolution with the world's lowest-power semiconductor solutions. Built on our proprietary sub- and near-threshold technology, our chips deliver multi-fold improvements in energy efficiency without costly process scaling. Since 2010, we've shipped over 300 million units to customers building smarter wearables, medical devices, IoT products, and AI-powered edge applications. Our cross-functional teams span design, research, development, production, marketing, sales, and operations across Austin, Hsinchu, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore. We move fast, tackle hard problems, and create space for people to grow through complex, meaningful work that shapes the future of technology. We're looking for self-motivated, creative problem-solvers who are eager to push technological limits and make a real impact in energy efficiency. At Ambiq, we live by five values: Innovate. Collaborate. Focus. Learn. Achieve. If that's you, join us — the intelligence everywhere revolution starts here. This role will be on-site 5 days a week in NW Austin. ScopeThe Staff Validation Engineer, Wireless Radio Lead is a senior technical individual contributor responsible for leading the validation, characterization, and optimization of wireless radio subsystems for Ambiq's next-generation ultra-low-power SoCs. Reporting to the Senior Manager, Silicon Validation Engineering, this role provides technical leadership for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Bluetooth Classic, and IEEE 802.15.4-based wireless technologies (including Zigbee, Thread, and Matter). The engineer will lead RF performance validation, PHY characterization, protocol interoperability, radio power optimization, and system-level debug. Working closely with Architecture, RF Design, Analog Design, Digital Design, Verification, Firmware, Systems Engineering, and Product Engineering, this individual will define validation methodologies, develop automation frameworks, and help deliver industry-leading wireless performance across multiple product families.
Responsibilities:
Lead post-silicon validation, characterization, and optimization of Bluetooth Low Energy and other wireless radio subsystems.
Define wireless validation methodologies, regression strategies, and automated test frameworks.
Develop embedded firmware, software tools, and automation for RF validation, PHY characterization, and radio performance analysis.
Design and execute validation plans covering RF performance, sensitivity, transmit power, coexistence, and power consumption.
Develop validation hardware and laboratory infrastructure for RF characterization and compliance testing.
Collaborate with Architecture, RF Design, Analog Design, Firmware, Systems Engineering, and Product Engineering to debug and optimize wireless performance.
Analyze complex RF, analog, digital, and system-level issues to improve product performance, yield, and robustness.
Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership in wireless validation methodologies and best practices.
Qualifications:
BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.8+ years of experience in wireless radio validation, RF characterization, or embedded wireless system development.
Strong understanding of Bluetooth Low Energy radio architecture, RF fundamentals, and mixed-signal SoCs.
Experience developing embedded firmware and validation automation using C/C++, Python, TCL, or similar languages.
Hands-on experience with RF laboratory equipment, including spectrum analyzers, vector signal analyzers/generators, network analyzers, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers.
Experience with RF characterization, antenna performance, impedance matching, and wireless compliance testing.
Strong understanding of embedded systems, ARM-based SoCs, and low-power wireless architectures.
Proven ability to analyze and debug complex RF, analog, digital, and system-level issues.
Experience validating ultra-low-power wireless SoCs for edge AI or IoT applications.
Familiarity with Bluetooth LE Audio, Matter, Thread, IEEE 802.15.4, or Wi-Fi technologies.
Experience with RF coexistence, power optimization, and wireless protocol performance analysis.
Experience with production test correlation, statistical characterization, and silicon debug.
Experience developing reusable validation infrastructure and automated RF test environments.
Must be currently authorized to work in the United States for any employer. We do not sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas (now or in the future) for this role.
