Applications Engineering Manager- Optical (LitePoint; San Jose, CA)
$171,900 - $275,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 30 July 2026 by the employer. Relisted by the employer on 17 September 2026.
Lead photonics test applications efforts for optical transceivers, silicon photonics, and optical links.
About the role
This role leads the photonics test applications team, serving as the senior technical bridge between photonics test products and customers, accountable for team delivery and customer relationships that drive adoption and growth. The position works closely with engineering and marketing to guide product development and manage key customer design-in activity focusing on high-speed optical communications test.
What you'll do
- Manage, coach, and develop a team of applications engineers, setting goals, balancing workload, and fostering career growth.
- Oversee troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and issue resolution for module and system levels.
- Develop automated test solutions, libraries, and tools for chipset vendors, brand names, ODMs, and CMs.
- Own senior-level customer relationships, ensuring proactive communication, satisfaction, and growth.
- Capture field feedback and channel it for product roadmap development.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Photonics, Optical Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
- 8+ years in optical R&D, design, testing, or applications engineering, including customer-facing work.
- Prior people-management experience or demonstrated technical leadership (mentor, team lead, project lead).
- Strong grasp of photonics testing principles, equipment, and measurement techniques.
- Deep understanding of high-speed Ethernet standards (IEEE 802.3bs/cd).
- Hands-on experience with optical test instruments: optical sampling scopes, CDR, BERT, optical spectrum analyzer, optical power meter.
- Structured troubleshooting from system down to component level.
- Proficiency in C/C++, Python, or similar for test automation.
This role has been open 80 days — well above the 51-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
963
|
Median days open
51 d
|
Median salary
$156k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Teradyne | All employers we track in this specialty (963 roles · 102 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 57 | 963 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 106 | 6118 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 31 d | 51 d (−20 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $156k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 73 open roles · median 36 d
- KLA Corporation · 65 open roles · median 44 d
- Teradyne (this employer) · 57 open roles · median 30 d
- NVIDIA · 51 open roles · median 68 d
- Applied Materials · 50 open roles · median 66 d
- AMD · 47 open roles · median 50 d
How we counted: 963 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 102 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 18 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 Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.