Modem System Test Engineer, 6G/5G Air Interface - Tokyo, Japan
Originally posted 3 August 2026 by the employer.
About the role
You will work on integrating, testing, characterizing, certifying, and commercializing 6G/5G modem products.
What you'll do
- Support verification and performance evaluation for complex digital modem products across 6G and 5G cellular technologies.
- Validate end-to-end system functionality and performance across the cellular protocol stack (PHY, MAC/RLC/PDCP, RRC, NAS, TCP/IP).
- Define modem key performance indicators and evaluate system performance, optimizing based on data from conducted, radiated, and live 6G/5G network testing.
- Develop and execute system-level test strategies, methodologies, and test plans for modem features and use cases.
- Analyze 3GPP specifications and carrier requirements, translating them into robust validation scenarios and test coverage.
- Perform log analysis, debugging, and root cause investigation of modem issues across lab and field environments.
- Support feature integration, certification, and commercialization of global wireless products.
What you'll need
- 3 years System Test Engineering experience in 5G/4G mobile communications system, protocols, or related work experience.
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field.
- Speaking Japanese and English is required.
Nice to have
- Strong understanding of digital and wireless communication systems, signal processing, and RF propagation.
- Strong understanding of physical layer procedures such as signal detection, channel estimation, link adaptation, mmWave beam refinement, and massive MIMO.
- Knowledge of 5G NR PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC protocols.
- Knowledge of OFDMA, Wi-Fi, and LTE.
- Knowledge of air interface performance analysis, characterization, and optimization.
- Experience with test equipment such as protocol simulator call boxes and channel emulators for wireless product verification.
- Programming skills in Python, Perl, and MATLAB.
- Knowledge of AI/ML concepts and their application to digital communications.
Skills: modem system test, 5G/6G, wireless communications, protocol stack, air interface
This role has been open 59 days — slightly above the 51-day median for RF/Wireless Engineering roles.
RF/Wireless Engineering · RF Frontend
|
Open roles in category
265
|
Median days open
51 d
|
Median salary
$162k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (265 roles · 34 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 24 | 265 |
| Open roles in the wider Analog & Mixed-Signal family | 72 | 1400 · 106 employers |
| Median days open | 103 d | 51 d (+52 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $162k |
Skills observed across this category: modem system test, 5G/6G, wireless communications, protocol stack, air interface
Who's hiring in this category
- QORVO · 46 open roles · median 35 d
- Skyworks · 41 open roles · median 40 d
- Keysight Technologies · 24 open roles · median 174 d
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 24 open roles · median 102 d
- Apple · 20 open roles · median 19 d
- Analog Devices · 12 open roles · median 57 d
How we counted: 265 open RF/Wireless Engineering (RF Frontend) roles from 34 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 5 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Analog & Mixed-Signal family row. Figures refresh nightly.