Principal, Design Engineer (SJ2)

Req ID: 134297 Region: Americas Country: USA State/Province: California City: San Jose

Summary We are looking for a high-impact Principal AI Engineer to architect, design, and code the next generation of our engineering intelligence platform. In this role, you will bridge the gap between advanced Generative AI and complex hardware engineering. Reporting to the Office of the VP of Engineering, you will lead the technical development of our "Celestica-tuned Enterprise LLM," transforming massive repositories of global engineering data into active, predictive intelligence.

This is a hands-on development role. You will be the lead developer responsible for building the data pipelines, RAG architectures, and multimodal models that allow our engineers to "talk" to their design tools and legacy data. You will work closely with hardware Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to transform schematics, logs, and diagrams into a high-performance tool that our designers use daily to reduce board spins and accelerate time-to-market.

Detailed Description Job Title: Principal AI Engineer - Hardware Design Automation (Hands-on Lead) Location: San Jose, CA

Position Summary We are looking for a high-impact Principal AI Engineer to architect, design, and code the next generation of our engineering intelligence platform. In this role, you will bridge the gap between advanced Generative AI and complex hardware engineering. Reporting to the Office of the VP of Engineering, you will lead the technical development of our "Celestica-tuned Enterprise LLM," transforming massive repositories of global engineering data into active, predictive intelligence.

This is a hands-on development role. You will be the lead developer responsible for building the data pipelines, RAG architectures, and multimodal models that allow our engineers to "talk" to their design tools and legacy data. You will work closely with hardware Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to transform schematics, logs, and diagrams into a high-performance tool that our designers use daily to reduce board spins and accelerate time-to-market.

Knowledge/Skills/Competencies

• Advanced AI & Machine Learning: Deep theoretical and practical understanding of Large Language Models (LLMs), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Multimodal AI architectures.
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Expertise in designing advanced RAG systems, vector embeddings, and semantic search principles to eliminate AI hallucinations.
• Data Architecture: Strong knowledge of data normalization, structuring unstructured data, and database management (specifically vector databases like Pinecone or Milvus).
• Hardware Engineering Lifecycle (Preferred): Familiarity with hardware design processes, Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool outputs, Bill of Materials (BOMs), schematics, and manufacturing yield metrics.
• Google AI Ecosystem (Preferred): Specific knowledge of Googles Gemini model family, Vertex AI Agent Builder, and Model Garden.

Salary Salary Range: $150k-$216k Annually

The salary range described in this posting is an estimate by the Company, and may change based on several factors, including by not limited to a change in the duties covered by the job posting, or the credentials, experience or geographic jurisdiction of the successful candidate. Compensation includes the Base Salary and the target Short-Term Incentive (STI)/ bonus. A comprehensive benefits package is offered in addition to this. The stated range includes Base Salary and target Short-Term Incentive (STI) compensation only. A comprehensive benefits package is offered in addition to this range.

The range described in this posting is an estimate by the Company, and may change based on several factors, including but not limited to a change in the duties covered by the job posting, or the credentials, experience or geographic jurisdiction of the successful candidate.

Typical Experience

• Experience: 5+ years of total software engineering experience, with at least 2+ years of hands-on coding in LLM application development, NLP, or Machine Learning.
• Hardware Lifecycle Coding: Proven experience building tools specifically for the hardware design cycle.
• Technical Stack: Expert proficiency in Python, PyTorch/TensorFlow, and vector databases. Mastery of LLM frameworks.

Typical Education

• Education: A Masters degree (MS) in Computer Science, Data Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field is required. A Ph.D. in AI, Machine Learning, or Data Science is highly preferred.

Notes This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities of the position. Employees are held accountable for all duties of the job. Job duties and the % of time identified for any function are subject to change at any time.

Celestica does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruitment agencies or fee based recruitment services.

Celestica is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws. This policy applies to hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral and other aspects of employment and also states that retaliation against a person who files a charge of discrimination, participates in a discrimination proceeding, or otherwise opposes an unlawful employment practice will not be tolerated. All information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Celestica is an E-Verify employer.

COMPANY OVERVIEW: Celestica (NYSE, TSX: CLS) enables the worlds best brands. Through our recognized customer-centric approach, we partner with leading companies in Aerospace and Defense, Communications, Enterprise, HealthTech, Industrial, Capital Equipment and Energy to deliver solutions for their most complex challenges.

As a leader in design, manufacturing, hardware platform and supply chain solutions, Celestica brings global expertise and insight at every stage of product development - from drawing board to full-scale production and after-market services for products from advanced medical devices, to highly engineered aviation systems, to next-generation hardware platform solutions for the Cloud.

Headquartered in Toronto, with talented teams spanning 40+ locations in 13 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia, we imagine, develop and deliver a better future with our customers.

Celestica would like to thank all applicants, however, only qualified applicants will be contacted.

Celestica does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruitment agencies or fee based recruitment services.