Principal Application Engineer

Credo; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Equity

Medical benefits

Job summary

Credo seeks a Principal Application Engineer to drive customer-facing technical engagements for its Zero-Flap optical module products. You will serve as the technical bridge between Credo and key customers, enabling deployment, troubleshooting, and performance optimization in complex system environments.

You will build automation and evaluation infrastructure modeled after real-world customer systems, lead cross-functional collaboration, and translate customer issues into actionable tasks for

Qualifications

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Communications, Optics or Physics with 12+ years of experience.
• Strong understanding of optical pluggable modules and standards (IEEE, CMIS, QSFP-DD, OSFP).
• Hands-on experience with optical, electrical test equipment (e.g., DCA, BERT, scopes, host system) and switches and NICs.
• Deep knowledge of optical modules and how they interact with the customers’ hardware and software environments.
• Ability to diagnose issues across firmware, optical, mechanical, and system domains.
• Test automation using scripting languages such as Python.
• Proven ability to drive data-based root-cause investigations and to design experiments upfront that produce clear, defensible engineering conclusions and actionable next steps.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to interface directly with customers and internal engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• As an ideal candidate, you bring strong system-level knowledge, deep optical module expertise, and excellent customer-facing technical abilities. You understand how optical modules behave under different host system architectures and can translate customer issues into structured engineering tasks for internal teams.
• In your daily work, you will:
• - Support customer-site troubleshooting, including electrical, optical, firmware, and interoperability-related issues.
• - Learn and analyze customer use cases, including system hardware architecture, firmware behavior, operating conditions, and software drivers where Credo modules are deployed.
• - Build automation infrastructure and test environments that accurately represent customer system environments for validation and problem reproduction.
• - Develop test scripts and automated evaluation flows to measure module performance under customer-equivalent conditions.
• - Collaborate closely with internal optical, mechanical, firmware, hardware, and validation teams to root-cause issues and drive resolution.

Skills

Root-cause analysis

Customer-facing communication

Test automation

Python scripting

System-level thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Communications, Optics or Physics

MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Communications, Optics or Physics

Tools

DCA

BERT

Scopes

NICs

Job description

We are seeking a Principal Application Engineer to drive customer‑facing technical engagement for Credo’s Zero‑Flap optical module products. This role acts as the technical bridge between Credo and key customers, enabling successful deployment, troubleshooting, and performance optimization of Credo optical modules in complex system environments. The engineers deeply understand customer hardware, firmware, and software use cases, build automation and evaluation infrastructure modeled after real‑world customer systems, and lead cross‑functional collaboration to deliver high‑quality solutions that ensure seamless customer adoption of Zero‑Flap optical module products.

Base salary range

is $180,000 - $250,000 a year. The base salary offer will depend on factors such as education, experience, training, skills, qualifications, and location. This position is also eligible for a discretionary bonus, equity and a full range of medical and other benefits.

Why Credo

• Purpose: We invest in what matters. From meaningful-future shaping projects to competitive compensation, we empower you to grow your career while making a lasting impact.
• People: Connection starts within. We collaborate, celebrate wins, and create an environment where everyone can do their best work.
• Possibilities: Our belief shapes what’s next. Our technology powers the most reliable and energy-efficient connections around the world – and our team powers new products and markets that come next.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Communication, Optics or Physics, plus 12+ years of relevant work experience
• Strong understanding of optical pluggable modules and standards (IEEE, CMIS, QSFP‑DD, OSFP).
• Hands‑on experience with optical, electrical test equipment (e.g., DCA, BERT, scopes, host system) and switches and NICs.
• Deep knowledge of optical modules and how they interact with the customers’ hardware and software environments.
• Ability to diagnose issues across firmware, optical, mechanical, and system domains.
• Test automation using scripting languages such as Python.
• Proven ability to drive data‑based root‑cause investigations and to design experiments upfront that produce clear, defensible engineering conclusions and actionable next steps.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to interface directly with customers and internal engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• MS or PhD. in Electrical Engineering, Communication, Optics or Physics, plus 10+ years of relevant work experience.
• Experience with large‑scale data analysis and reporting for customer deliverables.
• Experience building customer‑representative testbeds, including host systems, traffic generators, and automation frameworks.
• Strong system‑level perspective — ability to correlate module behavior with host design choices.
• Experience supporting top‑tier hyperscale and datacenter customers.
• Understanding of customers’ optical module qualification and deployment procedures.

Responsibilities

As an ideal candidate, you bring strong system‑level knowledge, deep optical module expertise, and excellent customer‑facing technical abilities. You understand how optical modules behave under different host system architectures and can translate customer issues into structured engineering tasks for internal teams.

In your daily work, you will:

• Support customer‑site troubleshooting, including electrical, optical, firmware, and interoperability‑related issues.
• Learn and analyze customer use cases, including system hardware architecture, firmware behavior, operating conditions, and software drivers where Credo modules are deployed.
• Build automation infrastructure and test environments that accurately represent customer system environments for validation and problem reproduction.
• Develop test scripts and automated evaluation flows to measure module performance under customer‑equivalent conditions.
• Collaborate closely with internal optical, mechanical, firmware, hardware, and validation teams to root‑cause issues and drive resolution.