Electrical Engineering & RF/Circuit Design Expert

$70–85/hrrate as listed

Design graduate-level RF and circuit-design problems that test whether frontier AI models can drive scikit-rf and ngspice through real engineering workflows. Each problem you write is run against state-of-the-art models and revised until it lands at the intended difficulty, and the application includes a coding assessment.

Summary, eligibility guidance and screening preparation are prepared by Sidequest from the platform's posting. Check the source listing before applying.

The work

You are a task designer for a benchmark measuring whether advanced AI systems can do research-level electrical engineering with real tools. In practice that means writing original problems in Python: a fully specified setup, an oracle function that produces the ground-truth answer, and validators that accept correct solutions without leaking the path to them. Some problems are closed-form computation — extract S-parameters, de-embed a fixture, characterize a transmission line, run an operating point or AC sweep in ngspice and report a number. Others are interactive: the model must plan a sequence of measurements or simulations to recover circuit parameters that are never shown directly, reasoning from partial results toward a narrowed answer.

Every problem goes through a testing loop against current frontier models. If the model solves it on the first try, the problem is too shallow; if no approach works, it is probably underspecified or ambiguous. Most of the effort lands in that iteration — tightening assumptions, removing accidental shortcuts, and making sure the difficulty comes from engineering judgment rather than arithmetic volume.

What the screening looks for

Tool-level specificity. Which scikit-rf or ngspice workflows you have actually run, what the libraries get wrong, and where numerical or convention issues (port ordering, reference impedance, renormalization, convergence settings) bite.
Graduate-level depth under follow-up. Expect the interview to push past your first answer on S-parameter theory, noise, matching, stability, or SPICE model behavior.
Python and evaluation instinct. You will be judged on whether you can write clean oracles and validators, and on whether you can articulate why a problem is genuinely hard rather than merely long.
Honest availability. 15–20 hours per week minimum, sustained.

Logistics

Fully remote and asynchronous, with work done in Linux/terminal environments and remote compute sandboxes. Observed pay for this listing is $70–100/hr, typically set by demonstrated depth and assessment performance — rates are as reported by contributors, not guaranteed. A coding assessment is part of the application; plan for it to take real time.

What they look for

MS or PhD in electrical engineering or a closely related field (or equivalent research experience)
Hands-on proficiency with scikit-rf and/or ngspice on real research or design problems
Strong Python for writing problem setups, oracle functions, and solution validators
Depth in RF/microwave network analysis: S-parameters, transmission-line modeling, de-embedding
Comfort in Linux/terminal environments and remote compute sandboxes
Nice to have: benchmark or exam/problem-set design experience, containerized reproducibility

Before you apply

Would you pass this screen?

Drawn from what this listing actually requires. Answered in your browser — nothing is sent to us, and we do not store your answers.

Do you hold an MS, PhD, or equivalent advanced research experience in a STEM field relevant to electrical engineering, RF/circuit design, or a closely related domain?
Graduate-level STEM training · required
Have you used scikit-rf, ngspice, or other specialized scientific software in electrical engineering or RF design for published research, professional work, or credible open-source contributions—not just tutorials or coursework?
Hands-on software proficiency · required
Have you written production-level Python code (not just scripts or notebooks) for research or professional work, with experience in testing, classes, or error handling?
Strong Python coding · required
Are you comfortable working regularly in a Linux command-line environment and familiar with containerized or sandboxed compute setups?
Linux/terminal comfort · preferred
Are you able to commit 15–20 hours per week to this project for the duration of the engagement?
Weekly availability · required

0 of 5 answered

Included with this listing

Interview prep — 11 questions

Matched to what this platform's screening actually measures. Answer each out loud in 60–90 seconds: claim → concrete example → implication.

What it tests: Whether you've actually deployed these tools on substantive problems and can articulate the workflow, not just read the documentation.
A strong answer: Name a specific project (publication, thesis work, or professional delivery), describe what you were solving, which tool you chose and why, what the computational steps were, and what you learned about the tool's strengths or limitations in that context.
Where people lose it: Describing only a tutorial you completed, a course assignment, or generic tool features without anchoring to a real problem you owned. Vague claims like 'I've used scikit-rf' without explaining what you actually computed or designed.