Hardware Applications Engineer - Santa Clara, CA, United States
$131,010 - $196,300 USD yearly
Originally posted 12 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role focuses on resolving customer issues on their hardware/platform, customer design enablement, bring-up, and manufacturing production within Ethernet switching technology.
What you'll do
- Debug L1 Ethernet issues related to Serdes and MAC/PHY, including Signal Strength, Serdes Eye, and SI parameters.
- Debug other on-board interfaces such as PCIe, I2C, and MDIO.
- Perform Schematics and Layout reviews of customer designs and platforms, providing feedback.
- Interact with hardware designers to write Hardware Design guidelines, Application Notes, and publish Technical Bulletins.
- Interface with various vendors and internal teams to comprehend board design parameters.
- Generate PCB stack-up recommendations considering industry available materials and technologies.
What you'll need
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related fields and 5-10 years of related professional experience.
- Previous experience in an Application Engineer or customer-interacting role.
- Expertise in High Speed Ethernet Serdes interfaces: NRZ, PAM-4 100G.
- Expertise in Ethernet Physical layer (Layer 1) - Serdes, MAC, PCS, including debugging L1 issues for Interop.
- Strong background in Signal Integrity, Power Integrity, Electromagnetics, Thermal, Multi-lane cross talk analysis, and RF applications related to IC Package and PCB Design.
- Experience using HyperLynx, Ansoft SIWave and HFSS, ADS, Sigrity, PowerSI and PowerDC, Cadence Allegro, and Polar stack up.
- Ability to perform Schematics & Layout reviews effectively.
- At least one of the following scripting languages: Python / Perl / Unix shell.
Nice to have
- Expertise in MATLAB and Python.
- Ability to handle Servers (Windows / Linux), Scopes, Traffic generators (Ixia/Spirent/Xena), environmental chambers, Thermal Heads, Keysight VNA/TDR.
- Ability to program High speed / optics modules and link up with various modules: LR, SR, ZR, ZR4, AECs.
Skills: customer issues, design enablement, Ethernet Serdes, Signal Integrity, Schematics and Layout reviews
This role has been open 2 days — well below the 57-day median for Applications FAE roles.
Applications FAE · Serdes Highspeed
|
Open roles in category
89
|
Median days open
57 d
|
Median salary
$183k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Marvell Technology | All employers we track in this specialty (89 roles · 23 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 5 | 89 |
| Median days open | 173 d | 57 d (+116 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $183k |
Skills observed across this category: customer issues, design enablement, Ethernet Serdes, Signal Integrity, Schematics and Layout reviews
Who's hiring in this category
- Synopsys · 17 open roles · median 29 d
- Astera Labs · 16 open roles · median 61 d
- Keysight Technologies · 9 open roles · median 44 d
- Qualcomm · 8 open roles · median 67 d
- Microchip Technology · 6 open roles · median 43 d
- Marvell Technology (this employer) · 5 open roles · median 173 d
How we counted: 89 open Applications FAE (Serdes Highspeed) roles from 23 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 15 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.