RF Applications Engineer in Salisbury

About the Organisation

Our client, founded in 1994, are based near Swindon. They are a high-technology electronics company specialising in RF over fibre systems, antennas, software-defined radios, power electronics, and test and measurement equipment. The business operates across four distinct divisions serving government, military, commercial, broadcast, and scientific markets globally. One of the company's divisions is an industry leader in RF over fibre solutions. Its products are used in satellite ground stations, satcom teleports, cellular networks, TV broadcasting, GPS timing distribution, and defence communications - and are known across the industry for their dynamic range, reliability, and five-year warranty.

The business generates revenues of circa £19m (as of 2024, up from £11m in 2022) with a strong EBIT margin of approximately 18%. Part of a well-capitalised defence and security group, the business retains full operational autonomy, agility, and its entrepreneurial SME culture. The company holds Gold Investors in People accreditation and is certified to ISO 9001 and Cyber Essentials Plus.

Role Overview

The business has undergone significant growth in its product development function, creating the need for a dedicated Applications Engineering capability that can operate at the pace of sales without disrupting longer-term R&D programmes. This hire brings the Applications Engineering team to three people and ensures the business has the technical resource to support an increasing volume and complexity of customer enquiries as it expands across the UK, EMEA, the Far East, and the US.

The RF Applications Engineer acts as the trusted technical advisor to the sales teams and their customers. The role bridges the gap between the commercial and engineering functions - engaging early in the problem space, designing solutions from the company's optical telecoms product portfolio, and building customer confidence through to design completion. This is not a product development role: it exists purely to support sales, requiring fast turnaround and a very different rhythm to R&D.

The company is open on technical background. The key requirement is solid RF engineering fundamentals - the products are optical telecoms, but the knowledge base comes from RF, and prior optical experience is not required.

Key Responsibilities

• Engage with customers to understand their requirements and develop concept system designs using the company's range of optical telecoms products.
• Work with internal subject matter experts to produce detailed design packs for proposed solutions, and coordinate internal and external reviews.
• Provide technical support to all divisional sales teams on new and non-standard optical systems quotes, ensuring customer needs are fully understood.
• Assist field sales teams in recognising new design-in opportunities across the company's broad telecommunications product range.
• Deliver presentations and demonstrations to customers and their technical teams, building confidence from architectural evaluation through to design completion.
• Capture solutions in the company's business systems and shepherd them through internal processes; support factory acceptance testing and guide installation teams during deployment.
• Support customer analysis activities to feed market intelligence into product management, ensuring future product developments address real customer problems.
• Contribute to tender responses and business development proposals alongside sales and commercial teams.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Strong RF engineering background - cellular, communications, defence, or similar domains.
• RF systems design capability: the ability to understand a customer problem and design a system-level solution.
• Whole-system thinking across state-of-the-art telecommunications architectures.
• Comfortable engaging confidently with customers on technical conversations, including in real-time settings.
• Commercially aware - understands what to say and what not to say in front of customers and sales teams.
• Quick, responsive, and able to manage multiple concurrent workstreams to SLA.
• Prior customer-facing or technical sales support experience is highly desirable.
• Happy working on the phone and in front of customers; confident and self-sufficient in those settings.
• Dynamic personality with broad interests - the role suits people who enjoy variety over depth.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Familiarity with optical telecoms, RF over fibre, or microwave photonics (training on products will be provided).
• Circuit design knowledge (the role does not involve hands-on circuit design, but awareness is beneficial).
• Familiarity with engineering quality management processes (ISO 9001 or similar).
• Experience in defence, SIGINT, COMINT, satcom, or broadcast applications.
• Strong presentation and communication skills; comfortable delivering technical briefings to mixed audiences.

Qualifications

• Honours degree in a relevant engineering discipline (electronic engineering, RF engineering, telecommunications, or equivalent).
• Minimum of approximately five years of relevant engineering experience - capability matters more than a specific number.
• Demonstrable experience in systems design and technical problem solving.

Person Specification

The company's culture suits those who view engineering as more than just a job - people who are curious, hands-on, and constantly seeking to learn and push boundaries. Success here is less about ticking every technical box and more about mindset: the business welcomes individuals with diverse RF or electronics backgrounds who bring strong core skills and a flexible, problem-solving approach.

The ideal candidate will be technically credible and customer-confident - equally at home working through a link budget and presenting a solution to a client's engineering team. They will be commercially aware, well-organised, and capable of managing multiple concurrent design requests at pace. Candidates who have come from larger organisations and are seeking more ownership, variety, and pace in a collaborative, close-knit SME environment are particularly encouraged to apply.

Please note: due to the nature of the company's products and customer base, a Sole UK National is preferred. Candidates should expect to undergo Security Check (SC) clearance, which requires at least five years of continuous residency in the UK and the right to work in the UK.

Remuneration and Benefits

• Highly competitive base salary.
• Company bonus scheme (8% OTE - paid out consistently over the last 5+ years).
• Group Share Incentive Plan (tax-efficient, rewards long tenure and group success).
• Defined contribution pension plan (6.5% employer contribution).
• Option to purchase additional annual leave days.
• Cycle-to-work scheme.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Annual summer and Christmas events, plus monthly engineering socials.

Working Hours

• Option 1: 08:00–16:30, Monday to Thursday.
• Option 2: 08:30–17:00, Monday to Thursday.
• Friday: 07:30–15:00 or 08:30–16:00.

Eligibility Requirements

Candidates must be eligible for Security Check (SC) clearance. This normally requires at least five years of continuous residency in the UK, along with the right to work in the UK (e.g. UK citizenship or Indefinite Leave to Remain).