High-speed Electrical/Optical Post-Silicon Engineer

Job Title

High-speed Electrical/Optical Post-Silicon Engineer

Role Summary

Qualcomm Central Hardware Systems (CHS) seeks an experienced post-silicon engineer to lead hands-on measurement, validation, and debug of next-generation 224G/448G electrical and optical interconnects across silicon, package, board, optics, and system software.

The role focuses on channel characterization, SerDes validation, PDN and system debug, and creating automated validation content that enables design feedback and issue closure.

Experience Level

Senior — typically requires 8+ years of relevant post-silicon, SI/PI, SerDes/DDR, optical, package/PCB, or system validation experience.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include hands-on lab measurements, system bring-up, cross-functional debug, and automation for reproducible validation.

• Plan and execute 224G/448G electrical and optical measurements and channel characterization across package, PCB, connector, cable, optical module, and system channels.
• Analyze S-parameters, loss, impedance, skew, crosstalk, jitter/noise, reflections, eye margin, and link robustness; correlate bench data to simulations and models.
• Lead post-silicon bring-up, shmoo/margining, stress tests, compliance readiness, and system-level validation including tuning, link training, equalization, calibration, and FEC/error analysis.
• Drive PDN and system failure isolation across rail noise, droop/ripple, sequencing, package/board power delivery, SI/PI, thermal, firmware, drivers, and software workloads.
• Develop automation, data-reduction scripts, dashboards, regression flows, and stress content to reproduce and isolate electrical/optical/PDN failures.
• Coordinate across SerDes PHY, PDN, package, PCB, optics, firmware, software, validation, platform, customers, and suppliers to drive root-cause and closure.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, tools, and experience.

• 8+ years of relevant post-silicon, SI/PI, SerDes/DDR, optical, package/PCB, or system validation experience (experience guidance; see Education Requirements for degree equivalents).
• Strong fundamentals in high-speed digital design: SerDes/DDR PHYs, SI/PI, transmission lines, jitter/noise, equalization, channel modeling, and measurement correlation.
• Hands-on experience with VNAs, oscilloscopes, BERTs, TDR/TDT, rail probing, spectrum analyzers, optical BER/power testers, and precision probing/fixturing.
• Experience validating and debugging high-speed links such as DDR, PCIe/CXL, Ethernet, UCIe/chip-to-chip, optical module interfaces, retimers, or similar SerDes-based interfaces.
• Strong PDN/system debug experience: rail noise/ripple, droop/coupling, sequencing, package/board PDN behavior, and workload-driven power stress.
• 4+ years of programming experience in languages such as C, C++, Java, or Python, and 4+ years using debugging techniques and lab debug workflows.
• Ability to produce concise technical reports and communicate findings to engineering and executive stakeholders.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with 112G/224G/448G-class SerDes, PAM signaling, DSP-based SerDes, optical module host interfaces, and advanced equalization/calibration.
• Familiarity with IEEE Ethernet, DDR, PCIe/CXL, UCIe standards and corresponding debug methodologies.
• Experience with optical/electrical co-validation, retimer/re-driver tuning, module bring-up, and link-budget closure.
• Experience with package/PCB test vehicles, socketed and solder-down platforms, and DOE-based characterization.
• Familiarity with Linux, UEFI, HLOS validation, embedded instrumentation, telemetry collection, and stress workloads.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field plus 8+ years' relevant experience; OR Master's degree in those fields plus 7+ years; OR PhD plus 6+ years. Equivalent practical experience is acceptable where indicated.

About the Company

Company: Qualcomm

Headquarters: San Diego, California, United States

Qualcomm is a global leader in semiconductor and telecommunications equipment, specializing in mobile technologies and innovations. Known for its Adreno GPUs, the company provides solutions enabling advancements in mobile gaming, AI, VR/AR, and autonomous driving. Qualcomm's cutting-edge technology and commitment to high-performance, power-efficient designs drive the evolution of mobile graphics and connectivity worldwide.