Senior Hardware Technical Lead, Interconnect Systems

Job Title

Senior Hardware Technical Lead, Interconnect Systems

Role Summary

Lead end-to-end technical execution for Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) and silicon photonics interconnect test hardware, from concept through high-volume manufacturing. You will coordinate cross-disciplinary engineering teams (board, photonics, opto-mechanics, thermal, firmware/software, manufacturing) to deliver validated, manufacturable products.

This is a senior individual contributor role with substantial technical leadership and program-management responsibility: drive designs, lead integration and validation strategies, resolve cross-domain technical issues, and ensure on-time release to production.

Experience Level

Senior - typically 12+ years of relevant experience, including 5+ years serving as a technical lead on multi-disciplinary, end-to-end hardware programs.

Responsibilities

Accountable for technical program delivery and hands-on validation across electrical, optical, mechanical, thermal, and firmware domains.

• Drive program lifecycle: requirements, architecture, design, bring-up, characterization, qualification, and release to high-volume manufacturing.
• Serve as technical focal point across parallel workstreams; align priorities, manage dependencies, and report risks to leadership.
• Define and execute validation and coverage strategies from die to system level; develop test methodologies, automation, and data pipelines.
• Perform hands-on electrical and optical debug, failure analysis, and root-cause investigations using lab equipment.
• Develop Python-based test automation, data collection, and hardware control (I2C, SPI); own electrical specifications and peripheral selection.
• Partner with manufacturing and production engineering to build robust production tests, improve yield, and reduce test cost/time.
• Mentor engineers, lead design reviews, and raise team engineering capability across multi-site teams.

Requirements

Must-have skills and experience for immediate impact; nice-to-have items listed separately.

• 12+ years in hardware system engineering, characterization, or product engineering for electro-optical or high-speed communication products.
• 5+ years serving as a technical lead on multi-disciplinary projects, driving programs end-to-end.
• Proven technical program management: delivering complex hardware programs from concept to mass production.
• Deep hands-on experience with hardware design, lab bring-up, characterization, debugging, and electrical-specification review.
• Proficiency in Python for scripting and test automation; experience with data analysis tools (JMP or equivalent).
• Familiarity with hardware control interfaces and debug: I2C, SPI, JTAG; experience automating hardware control and data collection.
• Experience using lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, optical power meters, BER testers, and source meters for debug and failure analysis.
• Strong communication and stakeholder alignment skills; self-driven ownership and ability to operate in a fast-paced, multi-project environment.

Nice-to-have:

• Hands-on experience with Co-Packaged Optics system integration and production.
• Silicon photonics device characterization (lasers, modulators, detectors, waveguides).
• Opto-mechanical design experience, DFM/DFT/DOE techniques, and qualification test processes.
• Experience collaborating with overseas manufacturing and mass-production partners (OSAT, JDM/ODM).

Education Requirements

B.Sc. or M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Electro-Optics, Applied Physics, or a related technical field - or equivalent practical experience.

About the Company

Company: NVIDIA

Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, USA

NVIDIA is a global leader in accelerated computing, renowned for its innovative solutions in AI and digital twins that transform diverse industries. The company specializes in networking technologies, providing end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions for servers and storage that optimize performance and scalability. NVIDIA serves sectors such as high-performance computing, enterprise data centers, and cloud computing, constantly reinventing its products and services to stay ahead in the market.