Senior Principal Engineer (Board & System Hardware Design AI & Cloud Infrastructure)

  • $200,000–$266,400 Per Year
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Skills

  • ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)unmatched
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)unmatched
  • Best Practicesunmatched
  • Broadbandunmatched
  • Cadence Allegrounmatched
  • Cloud Computingunmatched
  • Communication Skillsunmatched
  • Computer Engineeringunmatched
  • Computer Systemsunmatched
  • Constructionunmatched
  • Customer Relationsunmatched
  • Customer Trainingunmatched
  • Customer/Client Researchunmatched
  • DFT (Design for Test)unmatched
  • Debugging Skillsunmatched
  • Ecosystemsunmatched
  • Electrical Engineeringunmatched
  • Ethernetunmatched
  • Ethernet Switchingunmatched
  • Hardware Designunmatched
  • Hardware Developmentunmatched
  • Industry Standardsunmatched
  • Input/Outputunmatched
  • Laboratory Equipmentunmatched
  • Leadershipunmatched
  • Manufacturingunmatched
  • Marketingunmatched
  • Mechanical Designunmatched
  • Mentoringunmatched
  • Network Designunmatched
  • Network Operations Centerunmatched
  • Network Systemsunmatched
  • Original Design Manufacturer (ODM)unmatched
  • PCI Express (PCI-E)unmatched
  • People Managementunmatched
  • Printed Circuit Board (PCB)unmatched
  • Printed Circuit Board Designunmatched
  • Problem Solving Skillsunmatched
  • Product Lifecycleunmatched
  • Product Packagingunmatched
  • Product Planningunmatched
  • Production Volumeunmatched
  • Reliability Testingunmatched
  • Risk Analysisunmatched
  • Root Cause Analysisunmatched
  • SERDESunmatched
  • Sales Presentationunmatched
  • Schematicsunmatched
  • Signal Integrityunmatched
  • Strategic Analysisunmatched
  • Switched Fabricunmatched
  • System Architectureunmatched
  • System Integration (SI)unmatched
  • Systems Hardwareunmatched
  • Technical Leadershipunmatched
  • Technical Supportunmatched
  • Technical Trainingunmatched
  • Technical Writingunmatched
  • Testabilityunmatched
  • Tolerance Analysisunmatched
  • Training/Teaching Materialsunmatched
  • Willing to Travelunmatched

Description

Job Summary:
  • As Senior Principal Engineer (Board & System Hardware Design AI & Cloud Infrastructure), you will be the senior technical authority guiding customer hardware design-in on the Ethernet Switch and UALink platforms, and a key technical bridge between the silicon teams, internal hardware engineering, and the field. Your primary mission is to ensure that customers' next-generation switches, AI fabric platforms, and networking systems are designed right the first time performant, manufacturable, reliable, and ready for high-volume production.
  • This is a deep individual contributor role with a strong system-design and productization focus. You will spend most of your time reviewing and shaping customer hardware designs covering board architecture, PCB stack-up and material selection, power architecture, thermal design, mechanical integration, and reliability and retain full hands-on capability across the entire design lifecycle from architecture through schematic, layout guidance, and bring-up. You will also play a central role in defining and supporting reference designs for new silicon and serving as a trusted technical educator to both customers and internal teams. You will be a key technical voice in the evolution toward 224G and 448G SerDes-class systems and the emerging open AI fabric standards.
Role & Responsibilities:
  • Serve as the senior technical advisor to customer hardware teams designing platforms around the Ethernet switches and UALink silicon, from early architecture through production ramp.
  • Lead design-in reviews of customer schematics, PCB stack-ups, and overall system architectures, identifying risks early and guiding customers to best-in-class implementations.
  • Define, develop, and support reference designs for new silicon partnering with silicon, packaging, and internal HW engineering teams from early product definition through customer release.
  • Work closely with internal hardware engineering and silicon teams as a feedback channel from the field influencing silicon I/O, package, power, and reference design choices based on real customer deployment learnings.
  • Drive PCB stack-up strategy and material selection (low-loss laminates, copper roughness, glass weave, via construction) to meet high-speed performance and cost targets.
  • Own architecture, schematic, layout guidance, and bring-up of reference and evaluation platforms, applying full lifecycle hands-on expertise where needed.
  • Guide customers on power delivery architecture, including PDN design, multi-rail sequencing, decoupling strategy, and tolerance analysis for high-current ASICs.
  • Advise on thermal design, mechanical integration, and cooling strategies (air, liquid, immersion) to meet performance and reliability targets in real deployments.
  • Provide guidance on signal and power integrity, reviewing customer SI/PI simulations and contributing simulations directly when the project requires it.
  • Drive design for reliability, manufacturability, and testability ensuring smooth transitions to production at ODM/CM partners.
  • Develop and deliver technical training to customers and internal teams covering core silicon, reference designs, high-speed design best practices, and productization methodologies.
  • Provide technical leadership on 112G and 224G PAM4 SerDes designs today, and help shape the hardware approach for next-generation 448G systems.
  • Lead hardware bring-up support, root-cause debug, and issue resolution during customer lab phases and early production.
  • Partner closely with Silicon Design, Packaging, SI/PI, Software, and Operations teams to deliver fully integrated solutions.
  • Contribute to product definition and roadmap planning by bringing real-world customer feedback into architecture and marketing discussions.
  • Represent the organization's hardware expertise in customer briefings, executive reviews, and industry technical forums.
What We're Looking For:
  • PhD, Master's, or Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
  • 15+ years of experience in hardware design, development, and validation of high-speed networking or compute systems.
  • 7+ years of dedicated experience in board and system design for high-speed platforms involving modern SerDes (25G NRZ through 112G/224G PAM4).
  • Proven full-lifecycle ownership of complex high-speed boards: architecture, schematic, layout guidance, and bring-up.
  • Demonstrated experience defining and delivering reference designs that enabled customer or internal platform adoption.
  • Strong expertise in PCB stack-up design and material selection for high-speed, high-layer-count boards.
  • Deep experience with power architecture for high-current ASICs, including PDN design, sequencing, decoupling, and tolerance analysis.
  • Solid background in thermal design and mechanical integration for high-power network and AI systems.
  • Working knowledge of SI/PI principles, with the ability to review customer simulations and run targeted simulations independently when needed.
  • Hands-on experience with hardware bring-up, lab debug, and root-cause analysis using industry-standard lab equipment.
  • Deep understanding of high-speed interfaces: Ethernet, PCIe, DDR, advanced SerDes, and modern power delivery architectures.
  • Strong grasp of design for reliability, manufacturability, and testability across the product lifecycle.
  • Customer-facing experience supporting complex technical engagements and resolving real-world deployment issues.
  • Proven ability to develop and deliver technical training content to engineering audiences.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence senior customer engineering teams and collaborate across disciplines and geographies.
Preferred Qualifications:
  • Direct experience with Ethernet switch platforms (any tier) and/or emerging open AI fabric standards and architectures.
  • Experience designing or reviewing platforms targeting megascale data center deployments.
  • Background in reference platform design and customer enablement for silicon-based solutions.
  • Familiarity with ODM/CM manufacturing flows, including DFM/DFT, qualification, and reliability testing.
  • Experience with advanced cooling approaches (liquid, immersion) for high-power AI/networking platforms.
  • EDA tool fluency in either Cadence (Allegro/Sigrity) or Mentor/Siemens (Xpedition/HyperLynx) ecosystems tool-agnostic candidates with deep expertise welcome.
  • Track record of influencing silicon and platform roadmaps based on customer and field insights.
Leadership & Impact: As a senior technical leader within the Customer Solutions Group, you will:
  • Set the technical bar for board and system hardware design quality across the most strategic customer engagements.
  • Serve as a key technical interface between customers, silicon teams, and internal hardware engineering accelerating learning in both directions.
  • Mentor engineers across the team and lead training for customers and internal stakeholders, raising collective expertise in system design, productization, and customer enablement.
  • Shape the direction of customer-facing hardware solutions and influence next-generation product evolution.
  • Act as a technical ambassador, representing the hardware capabilities to top-tier customers and partners.
  • Travel as needed to customer sites, ODMs, and labs typically project-driven rather than continuous.

Numbers & Facts

LocationSanta Clara, CA
Salary$200,000–$266,400 Per Year

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