RF Firmware Engineer

About the job

Join our Long-Range BU (Business Unit) R&D organisation and help build the firmware that brings Nordic's cellular IoT radios to life. As an RF Firmware Engineer, you will develop the software layer closest to the radio: the code that configures, sequences, calibrates and controls the RF transceiver so that every transmission and reception happens exactly when and where the specification requires.

You will work in a tightly knit team of firmware, physical layer, RFIC and system engineers, taking features from specification and silicon bring-up all the way to products deployed in millions of connected devices. The role combines low-level embedded software craftsmanship with real RF and telecommunications understanding, and it gives you direct influence on how our next generation of products perform in the field. Our technologies span e.g. LTE-M, NB-IoT, NTN, NR+, GNSS, Wi-Fi and eRedCap.

Key responsibilities

Implement and maintain embedded firmware for RF transceiver control, such as radio state machines, gain and frequency control, and TX/RX sequencing that follows the 3GPP frame and slot structure.

Write and review code, tests and documentation, and help improve our development tooling.

Help keep the firmware within the memory, latency and power budgets of a low-power cellular modem.

Contribute to the firmware interfaces and test modes used in production test and certification activities.

Take part in silicon and board bring-up in the lab together with RFIC and physical layer engineers, and help debug RF performance issues from register level up to protocol behaviour.

Work closely with system architects and hardware designers, giving firmware input on new RF related features.

Key Qualification and skills

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Communications Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.

3+ years of experience in embedded software development, preferably close to radio, RF or physical layer hardware.

Strong C programming skills in resource-constrained real-time environments, with solid debugging and problem-solving ability.

Familiarity with the Arm Cortex-M architecture, interrupt handling and low-level peripheral drivers.

Knowledge of cellular telecommunications, in particular 3GPP LTE/eRedCap/NTN concepts such as frame and slot structure, timing and synchronisation.

Experience with RF transceiver control, calibration or front-end control (antenna tuners, switches, PA/LNA control, MIPI RFFE) is an advantage.

Experience with Python for test automation, and with git and CI/CD workflows, is an advantage.

Hands-on experience in the lab with RF test equipment and interpreting RF measurements is an advantage.

Comfortable using modern AI-assisted development tools in day-to-day work is an advantage.

Personal Skills

The ideal candidate is a curious and systematic problem solver who is not put off by a 3GPP specification, a schematic or a register map. You enjoy chasing a problem across the boundary between hardware and software, and you communicate clearly with colleagues from different disciplines. You are self-driven and pragmatic, able to prioritise and deliver in a dynamic environment, and interested in understanding why a radio behaves the way it does.

Working for Nordic

Working at Nordic, you will be inspired and supported to develop yourself. Our teams enjoy a professional and informal working environment. We value and encourage the continuous development of skills and expertise to the highest levels. We are proud of our Norwegian heritage, our highly skilled international workforce, and our world-leading innovation.

We offer a variety of tasks and projects, and the possibility to work alongside some of the world’s most renowned experts within their field. We encourage our employees to question the established and innovate while expecting professionalism, commitment, and the will to learn.   

Benefits

Competitive salary with short- and long-term incentive plan

Flexible working hours

Medical insurance

Family-friendly policies, insurances, and benefits

Practical details

Location: Oulu, Finland | Turku, Finland

Please note that this position might be subject to a background check.