Principal Optical Product Engineer - Santa Clara, CA, United States
Originally posted 10 June 2026 by the employer.
Own end-to-end manufacturing and NPI execution for Silicon Photonics, NPO, and CPO optical light engine products.
About the role
This role serves as the NPI and product engineering owner for optical module and light engine (NPO, CPO) products, managing the transition from early R&D to volume production. The Optics PTE team owns end-to-end manufacturing solution development and execution for Silicon Photonics products, optical light engines, and DCI transceiver modules.
What you'll do
- Work with design, marketing, supply chain, quality, OSATs, and CMs to develop end-to-end manufacturing and test solutions, qualify them, and release them to production. - Define, validate, and release production flows and specifications through prototype and pilot builds. - Drive early DFM/PFMEA feedback discussions. - Own BOM release, alpha/beta/pilot stage product builds, production bring-up, yield improvement, troubleshooting, and manufacturing readiness. - Partner with the quality team to complete reliability de-risking and qualification. - Sustain volume production in coordination with offshore manufacturing teams and contract manufacturers post-release.
What you'll need
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Photonics, Optical Engineering, or a related field. - Minimum 10 years of industry experience in product engineering or product development for volume production, focusing on Silicon photonics, optical transceiver modules, or subassemblies. - Strong experience in opto-electrical testing and troubleshooting. - Familiarity with assembly and packaging processes including wire bonding, die attach, wafer packaging, and active optical alignment.
Nice to have
- Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Photonics, Optical Engineering, or a related field. - Prior NPI or manufacturing experience in optical transceivers or optoelectronic modules.
This role has been open 135 days — well above the 51-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
1011
|
Median days open
51 d
|
Median salary
$155k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Marvell Technology | All employers we track in this specialty (1011 roles · 103 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 26 | 1011 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 79 | 6298 · 144 employers |
| Median days open | 26 d | 51 d (−25 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $155k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 74 open roles · median 35 d
- KLA Corporation · 63 open roles · median 49 d
- Teradyne · 60 open roles · median 35 d
- NVIDIA · 52 open roles · median 70 d
- Applied Materials · 49 open roles · median 70 d
- AMD · 45 open roles · median 52 d
How we counted: 1011 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 103 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 23 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.