System Validation Engineer - All Levels (AI Fabric Switches) - San Jose, California, United States
$237,000 - $250,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 6 July 2026 by the employer.
Lead post-silicon bring-up and validation for PCIe fabric switch products across x86 and ARM platforms.
About the role
Astera Labs is seeking System Validation Engineers to lead post-silicon bring-up and system validation for PCIe fabric switch products used in AI and cloud data centers. Working within the AI Fabric Engineering group, you will design validation plans, build automated test flows, drive cross-functional root-cause investigations, and support customer system integration.
What you'll do
- Create comprehensive validation plans for AI fabric switch products covering functionality, performance, reliability, stress, and interoperability. - Lead silicon and platform bring-up activities on x86 and ARM platforms, verifying boot and runtime behavior. - Debug system issues across PCIe, NVMe, Ethernet, firmware, hardware, and system layers using protocol analyzers, logic analyzers, in-circuit debuggers, and CPU-based tool suites. - Develop repeatable Python automation for IC and board testing, test orchestration, data collection, and automated reporting. - Translate customer and system requirements into measurable test objectives, coverage goals, and product certification criteria. - Design experiments to isolate unexpected behaviors and drive root-cause resolution across silicon, firmware, hardware, software, and platform configuration.
What you'll need
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field. - 2–12 years of experience supporting or developing complex SoC or silicon products for server, storage, networking, or AI infrastructure applications. - Understanding of x86 and ARM architectures and UEFI/Linux boot sequences. - Understanding of high-speed signaling principles and hands-on experience with high-speed protocols such as PCIe, NVMe, or Ethernet. - Proven experience with silicon and system bring-up, validation, and debug in laboratory and customer system environments. - Python automation skills for bench control, test orchestration, data analysis, and reporting. - Hands-on experience with laboratory equipment including protocol analyzers, logic analyzers, in-circuit debuggers, and CPU-based tool suites.
Nice to have
- Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field. - Working knowledge of C or C++ for embedded firmware, device drivers, or low-level system software. - Familiarity with PCIe/ CXL compliance standards and experience adapting consortium tests for platform execution. - Understanding of memory architectures, high-speed signaling, system boot flows, and AI server or accelerator platforms. - Familiarity with schematic capture and PCB layout tools such as Cadence Allegro or Altium.
Skills: system validation, Data Center equipment, AI fabric Switches, PCIe, CXL
This role has been open 107 days — well above the 43-day median for Post-Silicon Validation roles.
Post-Silicon Validation · Silicon Validation
|
Open roles in category
420
|
Median days open
43 d
|
Median salary
$168k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Astera Labs | All employers we track in this specialty (420 roles · 62 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 9 | 420 |
| Open roles in the wider Silicon Validation & Test family | 20 | 2244 · 112 employers |
| Median days open | 107 d | 43 d (+64 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $168k |
Skills observed across this category: system validation, Data Center equipment, AI fabric Switches, PCIe, CXL
Who's hiring in this category
- AMD · 57 open roles · median 47 d
- Micron Technology · 38 open roles · median 39 d
- Qualcomm · 38 open roles · median 27 d
- NVIDIA · 26 open roles · median 24 d
- Microchip Technology · 22 open roles · median 72 d
- Graphcore · 20 open roles · median 125 d
How we counted: 420 open Post-Silicon Validation (Silicon Validation) roles from 62 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 Silicon Validation & Test family row. Figures refresh nightly.