Role OverviewAstera Labs is seeking a Tech Lead Product Engineer to join our team in San Jose, CA. In this role, you will be at the intersection of silicon development and production excellence, ensuring our industry-leading connectivity solutions meet the highest standards of performance, reliability, and quality as they scale to volume production.
As a key technical contributor, you will own the RF and signal integrity aspects of product engineering - from silicon characterization and validation through production test development and customer-facing debug. You'll work across the full product lifecycle, partnering with design, applications, and operations teams to drive our connectivity products from tape-out to high-volume manufacturing. This is a high-impact role at a company experiencing explosive growth, where your work directly enables the AI infrastructure revolution.
With Astera Labs' portfolio spanning PCIe retimers, Ethernet solutions, and next-generation switching silicon operating at the bleeding edge of SerDes performance, you'll tackle some of the most demanding RF and physical layer challenges in the semiconductor industry.
Key Responsibilities- Silicon Characterization & Validation
- Lead RF and signal integrity characterization of high-speed SerDes across PCIe Gen 6/7, Ethernet, and UALink/UCI interfaces
- Perform bench measurements using high-speed oscilloscopes, VNAs, BERTs, and TDRs to validate silicon performance against specifications
- Analyze S-parameters, eye diagrams, jitter, and channel loss to characterize physical layer performance across PVT corners
- Drive silicon qualification and reliability testing to ensure products meet production readiness criteria
- Production Test Development
- Develop and optimize ATE test programs for RF and high-speed I/O parametric testing
- Define test coverage strategies that balance quality, cost, and throughput for volume manufacturing
- Correlate bench characterization results with ATE measurements to ensure production screening effectiveness
- Partner with OSAT and test vendors to bring up and qualify production test hardware and loadboards
- Customer Debug & Applications Support
- Provide RF and physical layer expertise to support customer platform bring-up and debug activities
- Analyze field returns and customer escalations related to signal integrity and link performance issues
- Develop reference measurement methodologies and application notes for high-speed interfaces
- Collaborate with applications engineering to resolve interoperability challenges across diverse customer platforms
- Cross-Functional Engineering Collaboration
- Partner with silicon design teams to provide characterization feedback that informs next-generation product improvements
- Drive DFT and design-for-manufacturing improvements based on production test learnings
- Contribute to product specifications and datasheet development with measured silicon performance data
Basic Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, RF Engineering, or a related field
- 5+ years of experience in product engineering, RF characterization, or signal integrity for high-speed semiconductor products
- Hands-on experience with RF/SI lab equipment including high-bandwidth oscilloscopes, vector network analyzers, BERTs, and TDRs
- Strong understanding of high-speed SerDes physical layer concepts including equalization, jitter analysis, S-parameters, and channel modeling
- Experience with ATE test development and production test methodologies for high-speed I/O
- Proficiency in data analysis and scripting (Python, MATLAB, or similar)
Preferred Qualifications- Master's degree in Electrical Engineering with emphasis on RF, microwave, or signal integrity
- Experience with PCIe, Ethernet, or CXL/UALink interface specifications and compliance testing
- Familiarity with high-speed connector/channel design and PCB stackup optimization
- Experience with statistical analysis techniques (Cpk, GRR, outlier screening) for production test
- Strong communication skills with the ability to present complex RF concepts to cross-functional audiences and customers
- Prior experience at a fabless semiconductor company operating in high-growth environments
The salary range for this position is $133,200 to $185,000 depending on experience, level, and business need. This role may be eligible for discretionary bonus, incentives and benefits.
