Principal Application Engineer - Santa Clara, CA, United States
$154,680 - $231,700 USD yearly
Originally posted 8 July 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As a Principal Applications Engineer in the Optical DSP (ODSP) Applications Engineering team, you will serve as a technical interface for customers integrating Optical DSP solutions into AI and datacenter platforms. You will drive end-to-end system success from early design-in through bring-up, validation, and production deployment across optical, electrical, and system domains.
What you'll do
- Serve as the primary technical interface for key customers integrating Optical DSP solutions into AI and datacenter platforms. - Drive end-to-end system success, from early design-in through bring-up, validation, and production deployment. - Lead complex issue resolution across optical, electrical, and system domains to unblock customer implementations. - Translate customer challenges into technical feedback for internal design and product teams. - Work hands-on in the lab with high-speed systems to validate TX/RX performance.
What you'll need
- BS in Electrical Engineering with 8–12 years of experience, or MS/PhD with 5+ years of experience. - Deep understanding of DSP fundamentals, analog/mixed-signal circuits, and high-speed SerDes systems. - System-level hardware knowledge with demonstrated debugging experience across multiple domains. - Hands-on lab experience with TX/RX validation and high-speed measurement equipment, including oscilloscopes, BERTs, and VNAs. - Familiarity with optical transceiver architectures and PAM4-based DSP systems. - Experience in applications engineering or customer-facing roles supporting semiconductor or system products.
Nice to have
- Knowledge in C and/or Python.
Skills: DSP fundamentals, analog/mixed-signal circuits, high-speed SerDes systems, system-level hardware, lab experience, oscilloscopes, BERTs, VNAs, optical transceiver architectures, PAM4-based DSP
This role has been open 187 days — well above the 60-day median for Applications FAE roles.
Applications FAE · Serdes Highspeed
|
Open roles in category
92
|
Median days open
60 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 (92 roles · 23 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 5 | 92 |
| Median days open | 184 d | 60 d (+124 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $183k |
Skills observed across this category: DSP fundamentals, analog/mixed-signal circuits, high-speed SerDes systems, system-level hardware, lab experience, oscilloscopes
Who's hiring in this category
- Astera Labs · 16 open roles · median 71 d
- Synopsys · 15 open roles · median 39 d
- Keysight Technologies · 11 open roles · median 46 d
- Qualcomm · 9 open roles · median 54 d
- Microchip Technology · 7 open roles · median 45 d
- Marvell Technology (this employer) · 5 open roles · median 183 d
How we counted: 92 open Applications FAE (Serdes Highspeed) roles from 23 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 25 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.