Director System Application Engineering - San Jose, United States
Originally posted 9 April 2026 by the employer.
Lead customer-facing system engineering for AI networking platforms and optical interconnects.
About the role
This role leads customer-facing system engineering for AI networking platforms and high-speed optical interconnects.
What you'll do
- Build, scale, and lead a team of system and applications engineers supporting customer deployments.
- Serve as the executive-level technical interface for customers, shaping system-level solutions.
- Oversee bring-up, validation, and optimization of optical links across AI networking platforms.
- Lead cross-functional efforts to debug and resolve issues spanning optical modules, DSPs, switches, and system architectures.
- Translate customer insights and field learnings into actionable input for product, engineering, and go-to-market strategies.
- Define standards for customer support, escalation management, system validation, and deployment methodologies.
What you'll need
- Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
- 10+ years of experience in optical systems, networking, or high-speed interconnects, with progressive leadership responsibility.
- Deep expertise in optical transceivers, DSP architectures, and high-speed link performance and debugging.
- Proven track record of leading customer-facing engineering teams and delivering complex system deployments.
- Experience with 800G optical modules.
Nice to have
- Background at an optical transceiver, networking systems, or hyperscale infrastructure company.
Skills: customer technical engagement, optical links, AI networking platforms, system-level challenges, optical transceivers
This role has been open 73 days — slightly above the 72-day median for Applications FAE roles.
Applications FAE · Photonics
|
Open roles in category
27
|
Median days open
72 d
|
Median salary
$158k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Lumilens | All employers we track in this specialty (27 roles · 14 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 1 | 27 |
| Median days open | 73 d | 72 d (+1 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $158k |
Skills observed across this category: customer technical engagement, optical links, AI networking platforms, system-level challenges, optical transceivers
Who's hiring in this category
- FormFactor · 6 open roles · median 24 d
- Keysight Technologies · 3 open roles · median 88 d
- Lumentum · 3 open roles · median 65 d
- STMicroelectronics · 3 open roles · median 131 d
- Teradyne · 3 open roles · median 30 d
- Analog Devices · 1 open role · median 164 d
How we counted: 27 open Applications FAE (Photonics) roles from 14 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. Figures refresh nightly.