Principal Advanced Packaging Engineer - San Jose, California, United States
$205,000 - $260,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 14 September 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This individual contributor role focuses on leading R&D for advanced packaging technologies for optical chips. The scope includes setting technical direction and driving packaging technology development for NPO and CPO products.
What you'll do
- Lead R&D for advanced packaging of optical chips, including 2.1D, 2.5D, and 3D integration.
- Define and optimize wafer-level, panel-level, or die-level packaging process flows.
- Drive EIC-to-PIC integration and broader optical device integration efforts.
- Select and qualify packaging materials for advanced packaging.
- Partner with OSAT, tool vendors, and material suppliers to drive equipment, process, and materials development.
- Characterize and continuously improve yield, reliability, and process capability for NPO and CPO packages.
What you'll need
- 8+ years of experience in semiconductor or advanced packaging engineering.
- Deep expertise in advanced packaging processes, including 2.5D/3D integration, flip-chip, hybrid bonding, Cu pillar, TSV, RDL, and overmold across wafer-, panel-, and die-level flows.
- Experience with silicon photonics chip packaging and EIC/PIC integration.
- Hands-on experience with advanced packaging materials, including underfill, molding compounds, dielectrics, adhesives, or optical-grade encapsulants.
- Proven track record of equipment and process qualification with OSAT or tool suppliers.
- Experience with PDK development and packaging design rule authoring.
- Strong foundation in yield analysis, reliability characterization, and process capability methodologies such as Cpk and SPC.
Nice to have
- Hands-on experience with CPO or NPO product development.
- Experience with optical coupling or waveguide alignment for photonic integration.
- Familiarity with DFM and DFT for advanced packaging.
This role has been open 24 days — well below the 59-day median for Packaging Engineering roles.
Packaging Engineering · Advanced Packaging
|
Open roles in category
312
|
Median days open
59 d
|
Median salary
$167k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Astera Labs | All employers we track in this specialty (312 roles · 60 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 3 | 312 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 10 | 9754 · 107 employers |
| Median days open | 24 d | 59 d (−35 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $167k |
Who's hiring in this category
- KLA Corporation · 50 open roles · median 120 d
- Micron Technology · 36 open roles · median 33 d
- Renesas Electronics · 25 open roles · median 39 d
- Infineon Technologies · 16 open roles · median 58 d
- Intel Corporation · 14 open roles · median 55 d
- GlobalFoundries · 13 open roles · median 58 d
How we counted: 312 open Packaging Engineering (Advanced Packaging) roles from 60 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 9 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 Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.