Optical Interconnect System Integration and Qualification Engineer - CA, Santa Clara, United States
Originally posted 16 July 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role leads system-level integration, validation, and qualification of optical and high-speed electrical interconnects for AI scale-out and scale-up platforms. Scope combines hands-on optical transceiver qualification with system integration spanning optics, SerDes, signal integrity, power integrity, firmware, ASICs, boards, and complete platform architectures.
What you'll do
- Lead optical transceiver and cable qualification activities at both module and system levels for high-speed AMD platforms. - Develop and execute qualification plans for 400G, 800G, and 1.6T optical transceivers, DACs, AECs, and related interconnect technologies. - Perform electrical, optical, protocol, and system-level validation of 100G and 200G per-lane PAM4 links. - Drive host-side SerDes optimization, including equalization tuning, margining, BER testing, eye analysis, FEC evaluation, and link stability characterization. - Support system-level integration of pluggable optics, onboard optics, co-packaged optics, and emerging interconnect technologies. - Debug and resolve complex issues spanning ASICs, boards, connectors, cages, cables, optical modules, firmware, diagnostics, and software layers.
What you'll need
- B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, Photonics, or a related technical discipline. - Hands-on experience with optical transceivers, high-speed electrical interconnects, and system qualification. - Experience with 100G and 200G per-lane PAM4 validation and optical module qualification. - Hands-on characterization skills using DCA-X, BERTs, real-time oscilloscopes, optical spectrum analyzers, or optical power meters. - Understanding of host-side SerDes optimization, signal integrity, power integrity, and CMIS or MSA specifications.
Nice to have
- 8+ years of experience in optical networking, high-speed data communications, hardware validation, SerDes validation, or system-level interconnect qualification. - Expertise with QSFP-DD, QSFP112, OSFP, 400G, 800G, and 1.6T optical technologies. - Hands-on experience with VNA/TDR systems, compliance test infrastructure, and I2C-based module management interfaces. - Python programming skills for automation, data analysis, visualization, and reporting. - Ph.D. or equivalent industry experience in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or Photonics. - Exposure to silicon photonics, co-packaged optics, onboard optics, co-packaged copper, near-package optics (NPO), or external-laser-source architectures.
This role has been open 96 days — well above the 51-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
992
|
Median days open
51 d
|
Median salary
$154k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | AMD | All employers we track in this specialty (992 roles · 104 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 46 | 992 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 407 | 6279 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 52 d | 51 d (+1 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $154k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 76 open roles · median 33 d
- KLA Corporation · 63 open roles · median 47 d
- Teradyne · 57 open roles · median 33 d
- NVIDIA · 52 open roles · median 68 d
- Applied Materials · 51 open roles · median 69 d
- AMD (this employer) · 47 open roles · median 53 d
How we counted: 992 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 104 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 21 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.