Senior Hardware Engineer — High‑Speed PCIe & Lab Validation

Cisco Systems, Inc.; Milpitas (CA); On-site; USD 138,000 - 201,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. in Milpitas, CA, onsite role for hardware engineer focusing on high‑speed design, verification and production readiness. Work spans silicon to PCB, with emphasis on signal integrity, power integrity, and industry standards.

You will collaborate with multi‑functional teams to optimize performance, cost, and reliability across Cisco's portfolio. The role requires hands‑on measurement, validation planning, and habit of rigorous debugging, supported by lab automation and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 5+ years of related experience, or Master's degree and 3+ years of related experience, or PhD plus 1+ years of related experience.
• 5+ years of applied experience with VNA to measure multiport S Parameter (insertion loss, return loss and X talk).
• Capability to set up TDR setups to locate impedance discontinuity, trace routing mismatches, structural damage in PCB, cables and connectors

Responsibilities

• Silicon, Package & Board Characterization: Validate high‑speed channels from silicon die through the PCB interface using advanced time‑domain and frequency‑domain techniques.
• PCIe Gen 6 Validation: Execute physical layer compliance and characterization for PCIe Gen 6/7 protocols, utilizing PAM4 signaling and advanced clocking architectures.
• High‑Speed Measurement Execution: Operate precision lab instrumentation including 110GHz+ VNA, high‑ bandwidth scopes and BERTs.
• Measurement‑to‑Simulation Correlation: Extract S‑parameters and use HFSS/ADS/Sigrity to correlate data with models.
• Root‑Cause Debugging: Troubleshoot signal and power integrity anomalies to ensure robust product performance.
• Lab Automation: Develop and maintain Python or MATLAB scripts to automate instrument control and data processing.

Skills

VNA measurement

TDR setup

Lab automation

PCB routing awareness

Education

Bachelor's degree with 5+ years

Master's degree with 3+ years

PhD with 1+ year

Tools

Ansys HFSS

Keysight ADS

Cadence Sigrity

Vector Network Analyzers

Oscilloscopes

BERTs

TDR instruments

Job description

Cisco Systems, Inc. in Milpitas, CA, onsite role for hardware engineer focusing on high‑speed design, verification and production readiness. Work spans silicon to PCB, with emphasis on signal integrity, power integrity, and industry standards.

You will collaborate with multi‑functional teams to optimize performance, cost, and reliability across Cisco's portfolio. The role requires hands‑on measurement, validation planning, and habit of rigorous debugging, supported by lab automation and