Electrical Engineer, RF/EM

Who we are

Arena Physica is on a mission to accelerate hardware innovation that powers human progress. Our name is inspired by Theodore Roosevelt's 'Citizenship in a Republic' speech. To us, entering the Arena means committing fully and accepting the risk of failure in pursuit of an audacious, worthy cause. We believe the future belongs to those brave enough to build it.

Our team of 50 combines AI engineering and applied physics expertise with deep experience in enterprise deployments. We're headquartered in NYC with presences in San Francisco and Los Angeles, backed by ~$90M from Initialized, Founders Fund, Goldcrest Capital, Fifth Down Capital, and Shield Capital.

If you're ready to do the most important work of your career, join us in the Arena.

What we do

At Arena Physica, we're building electromagnetic superintelligence. Our AI platform Atlas operationalizes physics-grounded intelligence to verify, debug, and optimize hardware across its lifecycle. Atlas is already trusted globally by the world's most advanced hardware companies, including AMD, Anduril, and Bausch & Lomb, for applications across R&D, integration testing, production assembly, and field repair.

About the role

As an Electrical Engineer specializing in Electromagnetics (EM) simulation, you will advance Atlas’s ability to reason about fundamental EM and build out our product features for real world circuit/system design and verification workflows that are based on high-speed/RF circuitry and EM simulations. You’ll work across a varied field of applications from RF components for communications, radar and electronic warfare, to signal and power integrity (SI/PI), SerDes channels, and packages/connectors. Within this role, you'll work at the intersection of our applied research team focused on building the first EM Foundational Model, and our Engineering teams focused on operationalizing physics-grounded intelligence to verify, debug, and optimize our customers hardware across its lifecycle. You will set up simulations, take measurements in the lab, and forward deploy to customers all in pursuit of redefining hardware innovation.

How you will contribute

• Build EM simulation capabilities for Atlas - Develop and maintain robust workflows for 2D/2.5D/3D EM simulation of interconnects, packages, connectors, and RF structures; ensure outputs are production-grade and repeatable.
• Model SI /PI/ SerDes channel components - Design, simulate, and evaluate model high-speed channels end-to-end (PCB, vias, connectors, packages, cables) and generate actionable artifacts (S-parameters, RLGC, TDR/eye implications, crosstalk, loss/dispersion breakdowns).
• Model RF structures & components - Simulate passives, launches/transitions, resonators, power splitters/combiners, hybrids/couplers, matching networks and antennas; validate vs measurement.
• Bring PCB design expertise - Work with Altium/Cadence OrCAD and support integrations and workflows into Atlas
• Lab validations - Correlate simulation with lab measurements (e.g., VNA/spectrum analyzer/TDR), define acceptance criteria, and drive root-cause analysis when models disagree with reality.
• Automate “expert workflows” - Convert best-practice EM simulation processes into automated pipelines: meshing strategies, boundary conditions, port definitions, de-embedding approaches, and parameter sweeps.
• Support forward-deployed engineering - Embed with customers when needed to diagnose real hardware issues
• Travel domestically and internationally (up to 25% of your time)
• Work in person at Arena Physica's NYC headquarters when not traveling

You have

• 3+ years of professional experience with EM simulation for SI/PI, SerDes channel engineering, RF design, or closely related roles within leading industry players.
• Deep EM simulation proficiency — Practical expertise with 2.5D/3D solvers and workflows (method-of-moments / FEM / FDTD and industry standard tools such as HFSS, Keysight ADS, Cadence, Synopsis), and required design softwares such as Altium and Cadence Orcad
• Signal integrity / SerDes expertise — Strong understanding of insertion/return loss, crosstalk, impedance discontinuities, via structures, launches, reference planes, dielectric/roughness loss, dispersion, and de-embedding.
• Lab proficiency — Familiarity with authoring test plans and validating simulations using VNA/spectrum analyzer/TDR/BER measurements and interpreting measurement artifacts (fixtures, calibration, de-embedding, bandwidth limits, repeatability).
• Python proficiency — You can script or automate simulation pipelines and analysis in Python (or similar), work with data pipelines, and collaborate effectively with software engineers.
• Strong communication — You can explain complex physical behavior clearly, write structured technical reports, and align cross-functional teams around root causes and next steps.

Benefits & Perks Include:

• 100% of the monthly premium for Aetna medical insurance, plus vision and dental coverage
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Unlimited PTO
• Lunch every day from local restaurants via Sharebite
• Relocation support provided