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Principal Electrical Engineer – Smart Cable Modules

Astera LabsShanghai, China · Posted 3 months ago
Full-time
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Description

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at www.asteralabs.com.

We are looking for a Principal Electrical Engineer to take strategic ownership of our Smart Cable Module (SCM) hardware platform. This is a senior individual-contributor role that combines deep technical leadership with cross-organizational influence - you will define the electrical architecture of our next-generation active copper cable assemblies and pluggable modules in OSFP, QSFP-DD, and emerging form-factor enclosures targeting 400G, 800G, and beyond.

As a Principal Engineer you will set design direction, establish engineering standards, and serve as the primary technical authority on module hardware across the full product lifecycle - from concept and architecture through production release and sustaining engineering. You will partner with cross functional team, contract manufacturers, firmware teams, and hyperscale customers to deliver differentiated, high-reliability products for data center AI/ML fabric and high-performance computing applications.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture & Technical Leadership

  • Define and own the end-to-end electrical architecture for smart cable modules, including SerDes channel topology, power delivery strategy, and thermal budgeting for muti-Gig (112G PAM4 and 56G NRZ ) designs
  • Establish and maintain internal electrical design standards, PCB layout rules, and SI/PI guidelines that the broader hardware team
  • Lead technical reviews (architecture, schematic, layout, DVT) and provide authoritative sign-off on high-speed digital designs
  • Contribute to the module hardware roadmap in alignment with host ASIC platform generations, MSA form-factor evolution, and customer requirements
  • Evaluate and select components; engage directly with supplier engineering teams on reference design adaptation and silicon bring-up support

Electrical Design Ownership

  • Drive schematic capture and PCB design for complex multi-layer modules housing muti-Gig SerDes retimer or DSP ASICs in thermally and spatially constrained OSFP/QSFP-DD enclosures
  • Own power delivery design including multi-rail regulation, hot-plug sequencing, brownout protection, and inrush management within MSA-defined power envelopes.
  • Review and recommendation on PCB stack-up, impedance targets, via structures, and differential-pair routing rules; review and approve layout execution with sufficient SI understanding to ensure first-pass compliance
  • Define module management hardware architecture: I2C topology, register map implementation, microcontroller selection, and diagnostic monitoring interface circuitry
  • Perform analog and mixed-signal sub-circuit design including clock distribution, oscillator selection, ESD protection, and supervisory logic

Validation & Bring-Up Leadership

  • Author/co-author hardware bring-up strategies, debug plans, and acceptance test procedures for new module designs; lead or directly execute board bring-up.
  • Oversee firmware integration testing, control-interface validation, and module diagnostic monitoring verification
  • Lead root-cause analysis on complex hardware failures; review failure analysis reports and implement changes.
  • Define and champion DFT/DFM strategies with CM and PCB fabrication partners to improve yield and reduce manufacturing cost

Cross-Functional & Organizational Impact

  • Collaborate with firmware and software teams to define initialization sequences, power management schemes, and real-time diagnostic algorithms
  • Represent the organization in relevant MSA, and IEEE standards working groups; influence specification development in support of company product strategy
  • Mentor and technically develop senior and mid-level engineers; elevate the hardware team's collective capabilities in high-speed design
  • Contribute to strategic hiring, technical onboarding, and department-level engineering process improvement

Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in electrical engineering or closely related field;
  • 10-12+ years of progressive electrical engineering experience, with at least 5 years focused on high-speed SerDes-based interconnect, active copper cable, or optical/pluggable module products
  • Demonstrated track record of architecting and delivering production hardware with 56G / 112G and faster SerDes interfaces (Ethernet, PCIe, or InfiniBand)
  • Expert-level understanding of signal integrity principles - impedance control, differential pair management, eye mask budgeting, channel loss allocation - sufficient to author design rules and review layout without performing full SI simulation
  • Proficiency with EDA tools: industry-standard schematic capture (Cadence Allegro / OrCAD) and PCB layout review
  • Deep familiarity with OSFP, QSFP-DD800, and SFP-DD MSA mechanical, electrical, and management specifications
  • Hands-on experience with CMIS 5.x / SFF-8636 modul

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