Location: Santa Clara / Fremont, CA
Work Setting: 100% onsite
Travel: Approximately 10%, primarily to contract manufacturers, internal development sites, and occasional supplier locations
Relocation: Available on a case-by-case basis
Position Summary
A global leader in optical communications technology is seeking a Lead Engineer – Driver Development & High-Speed Transceiver Test Automation to provide technical leadership for embedded driver development and automated test platforms supporting next-generation 800G, 1.6T, and beyond optical transceivers.
This is a senior individual contributor opportunity for an engineer who wants significant technical ownership without moving into people management. The role combines hands-on C/C++ development, embedded driver architecture, high-speed test automation, hardware/software integration, and manufacturing deployment.
Working across Hardware, Firmware, DSP, Systems, Product, and Manufacturing Engineering, this engineer will help define the software and test architecture behind next-generation optical technologies supporting AI infrastructure and high-speed data center networking.
What You'll Do
- Architect and develop embedded drivers and automated test platforms for next-generation optical transceivers
- Build hands-on C/C++ software supporting 800G, 1.6T, and future high-speed optical products
- Develop scalable test automation and instrument communication using SCPI, GPIB, I²C, UART, and related interfaces
- Integrate and debug hardware/software systems using schematics, oscilloscopes, DCA equipment, BER testing, and other high-speed instrumentation
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship across an 8–15 person multidisciplinary engineering team
- Partner with Hardware, Firmware, DSP, Systems, Product, Manufacturing, Program Management, and FAE teams
- Lead software and test solutions from development through NPI and production deployment
- Drive improvements in manufacturing yield, UPH, reliability, test capability, and overall software architecture
What You Bring
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline
- 10+ years of embedded software, driver development, or high-speed optical test development experience strongly preferred
- Strong hands-on C/C++ development expertise
- Experience with embedded driver development, electrical schematics, and hardware/software debugging
- Strong background in automated test development and production deployment
- Experience with high-speed optical transceivers and PAM4 technology
- Hands-on experience with oscilloscopes, DCA, BER testing, and high-speed test instrumentation
- Experience communicating with instrumentation through SCPI, GPIB, I²C, UART, or similar interfaces
- Proven ability to provide cross-functional technical leadership while remaining hands-on with development
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
- Experience with 1.6T optical transceivers and next-generation data center technologies
- Background in Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), Optical Compute Interconnect (OCI), or Silicon Photonics
- Experience within optical networking, high-speed semiconductors, telecom, datacom, or test instrumentation
- Experience defining test architecture for high-volume manufacturing environments
Why This Opportunity
- Help build the next generation of 1.6T and beyond optical manufacturing technology
- Significant technical ownership without having to move into people management
- Influence end-to-end software and automated test architecture
- Work across optics, embedded software, firmware, DSP, automation, and manufacturing
- Greenfield development opportunities with direct impact on future products
- Work on technologies supporting AI infrastructure and next-generation data center networking
- Clear technical career path into Principal and Senior Principal Engineer opportunities
