Wireless Communications Engineer | LoRa, LTE & Satellite

About Ranchflow

Ranchflow builds AI-powered livestock monitoring and virtual fencing for ranchers. Solar-powered GPS smart collars track location, monitor animal health, and use audio cues to keep cattle within virtual boundaries drawn in the Ranchflow app. There are no posts, wires, or fence maintenance. Alongside the collars, the Ranchflow Ranch Management Platform gives producers one place for records, grazing plans, and day-to-day operations.

Founded by ranchers and technologists, Ranchflow turns years of field observation into AI insights that help producers catch illness early, run rotational grazing easily, and raise healthier herds. Ranchflow is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Learn more at www.ranchflow.ai.

Ranchflow is part of the Soilworks Natural Capital portfolio.

What you’ll do

• Design and test LoRa, LoRaWAN, and device-to-device communication networks for livestock monitoring and virtual fencing.
• Develop and evaluate mesh networking, message relaying, and adaptive routing for networks of moving, battery-powered devices.
• Integrate LTE connectivity, including LTE-M or NB-IoT where appropriate, and satellite IoT modules into embedded hardware and firmware.
• Develop communication protocols for device status, location data, alerts, and virtual boundary updates.
• Design and test network discovery, connection management, and communication path selection as coverage and device availability change.
• Optimize communication across LoRa, LTE, and satellite links for reliability, range, power consumption, latency, capacity, and data costs.
• Implement message acknowledgements, retries, buffering, and recovery following connectivity interruptions.
• Develop link budgets and evaluate the effects of terrain, vegetation, animal movement, and collar placement.
• Plan and test gateway placement, antenna configurations, and network coverage across farms.
• Configure and troubleshoot radios, modems, gateways, and network infrastructure.
• Measure packet delivery, signal quality, power consumption, and network performance during bench and field testing.
• Work with hardware and firmware engineers on antenna integration, communication protocols, and device behaviour when connectivity is unavailable.
• Document network designs, configurations, test results, and deployment procedures.

Requirements

What you’ll bring

• A degree in electrical, telecommunications, or computer engineering, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Practical experience with LoRa or comparable low-power wireless networks, including an understanding of LoRaWAN and custom device-to-device protocols.
• Experience integrating cellular connectivity into embedded devices, preferably LTE, LTE-M, or NB-IoT.
• A strong understanding of RF fundamentals, antennas, propagation, and link budgets.
• An understanding of mesh networking, routing, and communication challenges in networks with moving devices and intermittent connections.
• Practical embedded C/C++ experience and familiarity with radio or modem interfaces such as UART and SPI.
• Familiarity with IP networking and connected-device architectures.
• Experience diagnosing wireless connectivity issues using measurements, device logs, and field testing.
• Ability to turn field requirements into practical, power-efficient communication systems.
• Nice to have
• Experience integrating satellite IoT modules, modems, or communication services.
• Experience developing multi-radio systems and communication failover.
• Experience with rural or remote network deployments.
• Familiarity with Python or tools for automated network testing.
• Experience with RF test equipment and antenna measurements.
• Familiarity with secure device provisioning, encrypted communications, and remote firmware updates.
• Familiarity with spectrum requirements and wireless product certification.

About Soilworks Natural Capital:

Ranchflow is proud to be a portfolio company of Soilworks Natural Capital, a private equity fund that invests in, incubates, and acquires companies to help accelerate the Regenerative Agriculture movement. Soilworks is on a mission to prove regenerative grazing is the most profitable way to ranch.

Based in San Antonio, TX, Soilworks portfolio companies include Range Ward, Powerflex Supply, Cream Co., Grazing Lands, and Grassroots Carbon.

*No visa sponsorship is available for this position*