RF/IC Design Engineer

Senior / Principal Analog & RF IC Design Engineer

Location: Leuven or Ghent, Belgium

Employment type: Permanent, full-time

Working arrangement: 100% on-site

About the Role

We are seeking experienced Senior and Principal Analog / RF IC Design Engineers to join an advanced integrated-circuit design team developing next-generation high-speed communication technologies.

The role focuses on the architecture, design, simulation, layout, and silicon validation of advanced analog, mixed-signal, RF, and mm-wave integrated circuits.

You will work on technically demanding IC designs in advanced CMOS and SOI technologies, contributing to state-of-the-art prototypes and products for high-speed communication applications.

This position is well suited to engineers with strong analytical capability, deep circuit-design expertise, and a proven track record of taking complex IC designs through to measured silicon.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and evaluate analog, mixed-signal, RF, and mm-wave circuit architectures.
• Analyse alternative circuit topologies and select appropriate architectures based on performance, power, area, robustness, and implementation constraints.
• Design and optimise integrated circuits in advanced CMOS or SOI technologies.
• Perform transistor-level simulation and detailed circuit analysis.
• Develop and optimise layouts for high-performance analog and RF blocks.
• Support physical implementation and design verification.
• Perform post-layout simulation and analyse parasitic effects.
• Support silicon bring-up, laboratory characterisation, and performance validation.
• Compare measured silicon results against simulation and design targets.
• Investigate performance gaps and implement design improvements.
• Contribute to architecture and circuit trade-off discussions across multidisciplinary design teams.
• Document technical decisions, circuit behaviour, and validation results.
• Drive continuous improvement in design methodology, modelling, verification, and circuit performance.

Essential Requirements

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Microelectronics, Electronics, or a related technical discipline with at least four years of relevant industry experience, or a relevant PhD with strong practical design experience.
• Proven track record of integrated-circuit designs validated in silicon.
• Strong expertise in analog, mixed-signal, RF, or mm-wave IC design.
• Strong understanding of CMOS circuit design.
• Ability to reason analytically about circuit topologies and design trade-offs.
• Experience with transistor-level design, simulation, and optimisation.
• Understanding of layout-dependent effects and post-layout verification.
• Strong debugging and root-cause analysis skills.
• Ability to interpret measured silicon results and correlate them with simulation.
• Strong communication and teamwork skills.
• Results-oriented and capable of working with a high degree of technical ownership.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to continuous improvement.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with advanced CMOS or SOI technologies.
• Expertise in broadband analog front-end circuits.
• Experience designing broadband drivers.
• Experience with transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs).
• Familiarity with circuits used in optical communication or silicon photonics interfaces.
• Experience with ring-modulator control circuitry.
• Knowledge of high-speed data-path design.
• Experience with RF or mm-wave building blocks.
• Familiarity with clocking, biasing, calibration, or control circuits used in high-speed ICs.
• Experience with lab-based silicon characterisation and automated measurement.
• Previous ownership of complex circuit blocks from architecture through tape-out and validation.

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will combine strong circuit-design fundamentals with hands-on silicon experience.

You should be comfortable taking ownership of complex analog or RF blocks from initial concept through architecture selection, schematic design, simulation, layout, tape-out support, and measured-silicon validation.

The role is particularly suited to engineers who enjoy pushing circuit performance, exploring architecture trade-offs, and contributing directly to next‑generation high‑speed communication technology.