---
title: 'RF Hardware Intern (Fall 2026) at Tacit'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/rf-hardware-intern-fall-2026-tacit-san-francisco-qxswc71mxb9g'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# RF Hardware Intern (Fall 2026) at Tacit

- **Company:** Tacit
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $40–$60/hr
- **Employment:** internship
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tacit/d001e2d9-90af-4d0b-bc97-fd6fa149ad19

## Job description

## About Tacit

We are an early-stage, deep tech startup based in San Francisco, developing innovative hardware that rethinks human-computer interaction. We are backed by General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, and Greylock Partners, with a founding team from Stanford, BrainGate, Oculus, and Tesla. While we can’t reveal too much just yet, our team is tackling cutting-edge engineering challenges to bring revolutionary products to life.

## ABOUT THE ROLE

We're seeking motivated RF Hardware interns to contribute to the development and validation of RF systems for our cutting-edge sensing technology. Depending on your experience, interests, and the needs of the team, your work may focus on exploring new RF architectures or on validating and improving the performance of existing RF systems.

Projects may involve prototyping new circuit concepts, evaluating RF components and system architectures, bringing up RF transceiver and evaluation hardware, developing automated measurement infrastructure, or characterizing hardware performance across devices, builds, and operating conditions.

For this fall, the primary focus areas are (a) systematic, per-build characterization of our RF signal chain against expected performance, and (b) bring-up of RF transceiver evaluation hardware, combining embedded firmware work with RF exploration.

Each intern will own a focused project area and work closely with RF and validation engineers to turn experimental results into engineering recommendations.

This role offers hands-on experience across RF hardware, embedded firmware, test automation, and data analysis, along with collaborative learning, technical mentorship, and direct involvement in product development within a dynamic startup environment.

This position is primarily for a fall-start internship.

## WHAT YOU'LL DO

Depending on your project area, you may:

- Run systematic, per-build characterization of the RF signal chain: execute defined test sets across all RF blocks and compare measured results against datasheet-based expected performance, flagging typical vs. atypical behavior
- Bring up RF transceiver evaluation hardware: radio configuration and control, RF performance exploration, and integration into our measurement infrastructure
- Prototype and evaluate RF components, circuits, and sensing architectures
- Design and assemble evaluation boards, test fixtures, and PCB prototypes
- Characterize RF signal-chain components such as amplifiers, mixers, filters, switches, couplers, and antennas
- Investigate architectural tradeoffs involving sensitivity, bandwidth, noise, power consumption, size, and system complexity
- Develop test methods to characterize RF system performance, repeatability, and reliability
- Measure parameters such as gain, loss, sensitivity, noise, linearity, frequency response, and device-to-device variation
- Build automated test setups using Python, laboratory instruments, and embedded hardware
- Develop validation procedures and test coverage for new hardware revisions
- Investigate performance limitations and support root-cause analysis
- Contribute to embedded firmware (C/C++) used for hardware bring-up, radio configuration, test control, calibration, and diagnostics
- Analyze experimental data and compare results against simulations, component specifications, and system requirements
- Document test procedures and clearly present engineering findings, tradeoffs, and recommendations

## REQUIREMENTS

- Currently enrolled in (or completing) an MS or PhD program in Electrical Engineering, RF & Applied Electromagnetics, Microwave & Wireless Engineering, or a closely related field
- Available for a fall-start internship, onsite in San Francisco

## STRONG CANDIDATES MAY HAVE

- Experience with RF circuits, wireless systems, antennas, or microwave engineering
- Familiarity with RF concepts such as S-parameters, impedance matching, gain, noise figure, compression, phase noise, and link budgets
- Experience using RF laboratory equipment such as a VNA, spectrum analyzer, signal generator, oscilloscope, or power meter
- Experience with embedded C/C++ on microcontrollers, including peripheral interfaces such as SPI/I2C/UART and register-level device configuration
- Experience with Python for measurement automation and data analysis, or with PCB design
- Experience with Altium Designer or another PCB design tool
- Experience with analog or mixed-signal design at the system or PCB level
- Experience bringing up COTS RF transceivers, radio modules, or SDR platforms
- Familiarity with RF simulation tools such as ADS, HFSS, CST, or similar tools
- Experience automating measurements or analyzing experimental data
- Strong hands-on debugging and problem-solving skills
- Independent work ethic, flexibility, and resourcefulness
- Effective written and verbal communication skills
- Comfort working in a fast-moving startup environment and excitement about building and testing hardware independently

## COMPENSATION RANGE

$40–$60/hr

## About Tacit

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: An early-stage, stealth deep tech startup based in San Francisco, developing innovative hardware that rethinks human-computer interaction, with a focus on neurotechnology and Edge AI.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Early Stage, Stealth)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: Not publicly available
- **Founders**: Not publicly available (founding team includes alumni from Stanford, BrainGate, Oculus, and Tesla)

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Neurotechnology, Edge AI Hardware, Human-Computer Interaction
- Target customers: B2B/B2C in consumer electronics, wearable tech, neurotech, and AR/VR sectors
- Mission or purpose statement: To develop revolutionary hardware that redefines how humans interact with computers, leveraging deep tech innovations in neural interfaces and on-device artificial intelligence.

## Products & Services
- **Product/Platform**: A next-generation neurotech hardware platform (stealth mode – specific product details are not publicly disclosed) that integrates production-grade on-device intelligence, realtime sensor processing, and NPU/DSP-accelerated inference.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (stealth startup)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding – Backed by top-tier venture firms (General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, Greylock Partners) but specific funding amounts are not publicly available.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, Greylock Partners
- **Growth Signals**: Company size estimated at 20–30 employees ([bebee.com](https://bebee.com/us/companies/tacit)), rapidly hiring across firmware, AI, and hardware engineering roles; founding team from elite institutions (Stanford, BrainGate, Oculus, Tesla), indicating strong talent acquisition and ambitious R&D trajectory.

## Competitive Advantages
- Deep tech moat: proprietary neurotech hardware combined with custom Edge AI runtimes and NPU/DSP optimization.
- World-class founding team with proven expertise in neural interfaces (BrainGate), consumer VR (Oculus), and electric vehicle engineering (Tesla).
- Backing from a powerhouse coalition of venture firms (General Catalyst, Khosla, Greylock), providing significant resources for long-term, capital-intensive hardware development.
- Stealth positioning allows focused R&D without competitive pressure, enabling breakthrough innovation.

## Strategic Focus
- Shipping production-grade edge intelligence: developing realtime sensor-to-inference pipelines for neurotech hardware.
- Power optimization: deeply optimizing end-to-end energy per inference for battery-powered consumer devices.
- Scaling engineering team: actively recruiting Senior Firmware Engineers, AI Product Engineers, and other hardware/software roles to accelerate productization.
- Building a full-stack neurotech platform from sensor acquisition through model deployment and user experience.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Early-stage, high-autonomy environment; team members own critical parts of the embedded AI stack and shape the product’s intelligence.
- **Remote/Hybrid/Office**: On-site in San Francisco (based on all job postings specifying "Location Type: On-site" and "San Francisco").
- **Compensation**: $150,000 – $200,000 base salary plus competitive equity package, 3% 401k matching, comprehensive medical/dental/vision, and unlimited PTO.
- **Engineering Culture**: Hands-on work with cutting-edge hardware (NPUs, DSPs, custom sensors) and production AI; strong cross-functional collaboration between firmware, ML, electrical, and product teams.
- **Visa Sponsorship**: Offered for qualified candidates.
- **Perks**: Full medical/dental/vision coverage, 401(k) with company match, unlimited PTO, and the opportunity to ship revolutionary neurotech hardware to real users.

## Sources
1. [Tacit Careers Page (Ashby)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tacit/62712a3e-e5b8-4884-9450-aae4d2dfa45c)
2. [BeBee - Tacit Company Profile](https://bebee.com/us/companies/tacit)
3. [Jobright.ai - Tacit AI Product Engineer Posting](https://jobright.ai/jobs/info/6971dbb2b707bf728a4b654d)
4. [Indeed.com - Tacit Careers and Employment](https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Tacit)
5. [Tacit AI Official Website (Tacit AI)](https://tacitx.ai/about/) – *(Note: this domain appears distinct from tacit.ai; included as potential affiliate/likely same company under different brand)*
6. [Tacit Official Website](https://tacit.ai/)

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