Leader, Semiconductor Product Engineering

Cisco; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 195,000 - 286,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco's Optics Operations Product Engineering team partners with cross-functional engineers to design and sustain optical transceiver components and modules throughout their product lifecycle. Product Engineers are self-motivated, result oriented, and strong-minded, adopting creativity and AI-driven thinking to deliver innovative solutions.

Your impact includes leading an engineering team, driving AI-powered process transformation, improving yield, and ensuring manufacturing strategies from

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Optical Physics, Photonics, or related engineering fields
• 10+ years in semiconductor industry as a technical lead, including 5+ years in people leadership
• Expertise in fabrication processes, wafer sort/probe, and advanced packaging (2.5D/3D, flip-chip, optical interconnect)
• Mentoring skills to develop engineers across career stages with accountability
• Hands-on mastery of SPC, DOE, Six Sigma, and yield-management tools (JMP, Spotfire)

Responsibilities

• Lead an engineering team to deliver state-of-the-art semiconductor wafer products meeting Cisco quality and performance standards
• Partner with cross-functional teams (design, foundry, IC packaging, test, reliability) to exceed yield, quality, and costs targets
• Lead the product engineering team to drive yield & Quality, implement DFx principles and manage products from initial silicon to high volume manufacturing (HVM)
• Collaborate with design & test teams to establish manufacturing and test strategies, including DFT implementation, test hardware specs, and test program creation
• Deliver AI-Driven process transformation to continuously improve quality, yield, and cost through test time reduction and root-cause analysis across design, fab, and packaging
• Create and execute strategies leveraging AI-powered analytics to streamline product development, accelerate failure identification, and enhance yield management
• Coach and upskill junior to senior engineers, fostering technical capabilities and an AI-driven mindset to maximize productivity and efficiency

Skills

Technical leadership

Yield management

SPC

DOE

Python

ML libraries

Stakeholder management

Education

MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering / Optical Physics / Photonics

Tools

JMP

Spotfire

DFx methodologies

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 09/29/2026 This role with be hybrid from one of Cisco offices in San Jose, CA, Carlsbad, CA, Holmdel, NJ or Maynard, MA

Meet the Team

Optics Operations Product Engineering team partners with cross-functional team of developing engineers to design and sustain Optical transceiver components and modules throughout their product lifecycle. Product Engineers are self-motivated, result oriented, and strong-minded engineers who adopt creativity and new ways of thinking to deliver innovative solutions.

Your Impact

Optics Operations is an organization that enables and accelerates innovation to create an unrivaled customer experience & competitive advantage for Cisco through end-to-end operation leadership and product lifecycle managements. As part of Optics Operations, you will lead and mentor a team of talented product engineers, driving AI-driven process transformation, automated yield intelligence, and Design-for-Manufacturing (DFM/DFx) methodologies within our silicon and component product portfolio. You will partner closely with engineering leaders, fab foundries, OSAT partners, and design teams to deliver breakthrough quality, maximize wafer and component yields, and ensure scalable supply chain resilience.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Lead an engineering team to deliver state-of-the-art semiconductor wafer products meeting Cisco quality and performance standards
• Partner with cross-functional teams (design, foundry, IC packaging, test, reliability) to exceed yield, quality, and costs targets.
• Lead the product engineering team to drive yield & Quality, implement DFx principles and manage products from initial silicon to high volume manufacturing (HVM)
• Collaborate with design & test teams to establish manufacturing and test strategies, including DFT implementation, test hardware specs, and test program creation
• Deliver AI-Driven process transformation to continuously improve quality, yield, and cost through test time reduction and root-cause analysis across design, fab, and packaging
• Create and execute strategies leveraging AI-powered analytics to streamline product development, accelerate failure identification, and enhance yield management
• Coach and upskill junior to senior engineers, fostering technical capabilities and an AI-driven mindset to maximize productivity and efficiency

Minimum Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Optical Physics, Photonics, or related engineering fields
• 10+ years of semiconductor industry experience (mmWave, DSP, Silicon Photonics) as a technical lead, including 5+ years of direct people leadership
• Technical expertise in semiconductor fabrication processes, wafer sort/probe testing, and advanced packaging (2.5D/3D, flip-chip, optical interconnect)
• Proven mentoring skills with the ability to inspire and develop engineers across career stages, fostering accountability and continuous learning
• Hands-on mastery of Statistical Process Control (SPC), Design of Experiments, Six Sigma methodologies, and yield management software (e.g., JMP, Spotfire)
• Strategic mindset with deep silicon engineering expertise to guide engineering teams through complex projects
• Direct experience managing technical deliverables with leading foundry ecosystems and OSAT partners.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Python, machine learning libraries, or enterprise AI tools to automate semiconductor yield learning, test pattern generation, or anomaly detection
• Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills, with proven ability to navigate complex matrix organizations and resolve high-stakes vendor defects

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we're revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era - and beyond. We've been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you'll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $194,600.00 to $285,700.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications,