Optical Test Engineer

Nexthop AI

• $120K — $145K *
Telecommunications & Hardware
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field
  • 5+ years of experience testing optical modules or electrical/optical systems
  • Hands-on experience with high-speed optical transmission testing
  • Strong Python scripting skills for automation
  • Familiarity with CMIS, MDIO, or IB2C interfaces
  • Understanding of high-speed protocols like Ethernet and PCIe

Responsibilities

  • Setup and maintain test environments using various testing equipment
  • Test and characterize transceivers across multiple conditions
  • Validate module performance in AI networking setups
  • Analyze performance metrics such as BER and power consumption
  • Troubleshoot performance issues and collaborate on root-cause analysis

Benefits

  • Opportunities for professional growth and development
  • Collaborative work environment with cross-functional teams
  • Exposure to cutting-edge technology in AI networking
  • Impactful contributions to scalable and reliable AI systems
Full Job Description
As an Optical Test Engineer, you9ll be responsible for the qualification, validation, and system-level testing of high-speed optical modules (e.g., 400G, 800G, 1.6T) used in advanced datacenter and AI networking environments. You9ll help bring up test platforms in the lab, perform optical and electrical measurements, and analyze performance under different test conditions, configurations and workloads. Your work will directly support the scalability, efficiency, and reliability of next-generation AI systems.

Key Responsibilities:
  • Lab Bring-Up and Test Automation: Setup and maintain test environments using BERTs, power meters, oscilloscopes, and traffic generators. Automate workflows using Python.
  • Optical Module Qualification: Test and characterize transceivers across temperature, voltage, and traffic conditions to ensure performance and compliance.
  • System-Level Validation: Validate module performance in switch ASIC systems and AI networking setups. Capture metrics like BER, power consumption, thermal stability, and link reliability under stress.
  • Debug and Analysis: Troubleshoot performance issues such as signal integrity degradation, module misbehavior, or unexpected power/thermal behavior. Collaborate with cross-functional teams for root-cause analysis.


Required Qualifications:
  • B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field
  • 5+ years of experience testing optical modules or electrical/optical systems
  • Hands-on experience in high-speed optical transmission testing, including fiber links, and state of the art test equipment: BERT, oscilloscope, DCA, power meters, OSA, thermal chambers
  • Strong Python scripting skills for lab automation and programming languages for data collection and analysis
  • Familiarity with CMIS, MDIO, or IB2C interfaces
  • Understanding of high-speed protocols such as Ethernet, PCIe, or SerDes
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment and adapt to evolving priorities.


Preferred Qualifications:
  • Industry experience working with 400G/800G/1.6T pluggable modules (QSFP-DD, OSFP)
  • Knowledge of IEEE 802.3 Ethernet, MSA or OIF standards including CMIS
  • Experience validating hardware in datacenter or AI cluster environments
  • Familiarity with environmental and reliability testing (temperature cycling, HTOL, etc.)

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