Director, Optics Strategy and Partnerships

NVIDIA; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 216,000 - 345,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

NVIDIA in Santa Clara seeks a Director of Optics Strategy and Partnerships to shape the optics roadmap for scale-out and scale-up networking. You will simplify complex requirements into clear plans and communicate the vision across internal and external groups.

You’ll drive technology advancements, collaborate with product, engineering, architecture, operations and sourcing teams, and build ecosystem partnerships to meet roadmap objectives. Equity and benefits are offered.

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Sciences, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience).
• 15+ overall years of industry experience, with 10+ years in a leadership role.
• Proven experience and solid understanding of optical interconnects, silicon photonics, lasers, or related tech in high-performance data centers.
• Practical knowledge of Networking (switching & routing for Ethernet/Infiniband and/or compute fabrics) and DC infrastructure.
• Experience building partnerships, managing contracts, statements of work, and investment justifications.

Responsibilities

• Leading the optics product and technology roadmap across all data center and networking platforms.
• Customer Engagement: work with customers and developers to understand use cases and requirements.
• Providing input and mentorship to architecture and development teams for optics and interconnects.
• Identifying and evaluating new technologies and partner relationships to align with the roadmap.
• Thought Leadership: produce blogs, white papers, webinars, and tutorials about optics and interconnects.

Skills

Leadership experience

Strategic thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Technical optics knowledge

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Sciences, or related field

Job description

NVIDIA is looking for a Director, Optics Strategy and Partnerships, to join our networking product marketing team in Santa Clara. This position offers a great chance to influence the future of data centers and networking technology. As an essential team member, you will help develop and build our optics roadmap for scale-out and scale-up networking. A successful candidate will simplify complex, competing requirements into clear working documents and communicate the vision to both internal and external groups.

A key part of this role will also be passionate about driving technology advancements and collaborations to support the roadmap. A detailed understanding of the optics and interconnect ecosystems, having extensive connections within the industry and the ability to integrate these into NVIDIA development programs is essential. Experience in preparing commercial agreements, statements of work, and backing investments into ecosystem partners to achieve roadmap objectives will complete the role. Our collaborative environment, combined with ambitious goals, will enable you to collaborate closely with our product, engineering, architecture, operations and sourcing teams to pioneer innovative solutions.

What You'll Be Doing

• Leading the optics product and technology roadmap process, across all data center and networking platforms
• Customer Engagement: Work directly with customers and developers to understand use cases, difficulties, and requirements, ensuring our solutions meet and exceed their expectations
• Providing input and mentorship to architecture and development teams for optics and interconnects across switches, NICs and compute platforms
• Identifying and evaluating new technologies, innovations, and partner relationships to align with our strategic technology roadmap
• Thought Leadership: Produce informative technical content, including blogs, white papers, webinars, and tutorials, that emphasize the value and innovation of our optics and interconnect platforms

What We Need To See

• BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Sciences, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience)
• 15+ overall years of relevant industry experience, with 10 or more years in a leadership role.
• Proven experience and solid understanding of optical interconnects, silicon photonics, lasers, or closely related technologies, within high-performance data center settings
• Practical knowledge of Networking (switching & routing for Ethernet/Infiniband and/or compute fabrics), and Data Center infrastructure
• Demonstrated experience and skills in building partnerships, managing business contracts, statements of work, and investment justifications

Ways To Stand Out From The Crowd

• Proven track record in product management or product marketing for optical transceivers, silicon photonics or co-packaged optics
• Direct experience working with high performance data center networking or computing platforms
• Background in formulating product strategies or specifying requirements related to networking or data center environments
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, capable of articulating complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 216,000 USD - 345,000 USD.

You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until September 20, 2026.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.

NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.

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