Senior Principal AI Interconnect Architect

Sandisk; California (MO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Short-Term Incentive (STI) Plan

Long-Term Incentive (LTI) program with

Employee stock purchase plan

Sandisk 401(k) Plan

Medical/dental/vision insurance

Paid vacation time

Job summary

Sandisk is seeking an AI Interconnect Architect to design high-speed interconnects for AI/ML scale-out, including chip-to-chip and switch fabrics. You will optimize bandwidth, latency, power, and reliability while collaborating with SoC, package, and software teams to ensure seamless integration in data-center infrastructure.

The ideal candidate has 10–15 years of experience in interconnect technologies, familiarity with PCIe, CXL, NVLink, UALink, Ethernet, and network protocols, and advanced

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science.
• 10-15 years experience developing interconnect technologies including transport and link level protocols, switching fabrics, QoS and reliable communication methods, and Software Defined Networking.
• Familiarity with Fat-tree, Leaf-Spine (Clos), Torus, Meshed topologies and their applicability to workloads and system configs.
• AI Hardware Architecture: familiarity with GPU/accelerator clusters and data center infrastructure.
• Deep knowledge of interconnect technologies and protocols such as PCIe, CXL, NVLink, UALink, Ethernet, Ultra-Ethernet, and serial links.
• Modeling and Simulation: ability to develop performance models.

Responsibilities

• System Architecture & Design: Develop architectures for chip-to-chip interconnects and switched fabrics tailored for AI/ML scale-out.
• Performance Optimization: Analyze trade-offs in bandwidth, latency, power, area, and reliability.
• Technology development and standards: Participate in industry standard bodies and influence the direction of industry specifications.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work with SoC, package design, and software teams to ensure seamless integration

Skills

AI interconnect arch

PCIe

CXL

NVLink

Ethernet

ULink

Fat-tree topologies

Leaf-Spine

Torus

Education

Master's or PhD in EE/CE/CS

Job description

Sandisk understands how people and businesses consume data and we relentlessly innovate to deliver solutions that enable today’s needs and tomorrow’s next big ideas. With a rich history of groundbreaking innovations in Flash and advanced memory technologies, our solutions have become the beating heart of the digital world we’re living in and that we have the power to shape.

Sandisk meets people and businesses at the intersection of their aspirations and the moment, enabling them to keep moving and pushing possibility forward. We do this through the balance of our powerhouse manufacturing capabilities and our industry-leading portfolio of products that are recognized globally for innovation, performance and quality.

Sandisk has two facilities recognized by the World Economic Forum as part of the Global Lighthouse Network for advanced 4IR innovations. These facilities were also recognized as Sustainability Lighthouses for breakthroughs in efficient operations. With our global reach, we ensure the global supply chain has access to the Flash memory it needs to keep our world moving forward.

An AI Interconnect Architect defines and engineers high-speed networking and communication systems for AI Inference infrastructure which include servers, racks, and chips with a focus on bandwidth, power efficiency, scalability, and optimized transport protocols. Design solutions should take into account interconnect technologies such as PCIe, CXL, co-packaged optics, UALink, Ultra Ethernet, and be able to specify innovative scale-out architectures for optimizing power, cost, and performance.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• System Architecture & Design: Develop architectures for chip-to-chip interconnects and switched fabrics tailored for AI/ML scale-out.
• Performance Optimization: Analyze trade-offs in bandwidth, latency, power, area, and reliability.
• Technology development and standards: Participate in industry standard bodies and contribute/influence/shape the direction of industry specifications.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work with SoC, package design, and software teams to ensure seamless integration

Required:

• Master's or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science.
• 10 - 15years experience developing interconnect technologies including transport and link level protocols, switching fabrics, QoS and reliable communication methods, and Software Defined Networking.
• Familiarity with various fabric topologies such as Fat tree, Leaf-Spine (Clos),Torus, Meshed and their applicability to various workload and system configurations.
• AI Hardware Architecture: Familiarity with GPU/accelerator clusters and data center infrastructure
• Deep, working knowledge of various interconnect technologies and protocols such as PCIe, CXL, NVLink, UALink, Ethernet, Ultra-Ethernet, and serial links.
• Modeling and SimulationL Ability to develop performance models

Sandisk is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate against any applicant or employee based on their race, color, ancestry, religion (including religious dress and grooming standards), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), gender (including a person’s gender identity, gender expression, and gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth), age, national origin, sexual orientation, medical condition, marital status (including domestic partnership status), physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, protected medical and family care leave, Civil Air Patrol status, military and veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. We also prohibit harassment of any individual on any of the characteristics listed above. Our non-discrimination policy applies to all aspects of employment. We comply with the laws and regulations set forth in the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal poster. Our pay transparency policy is available here.

Sandisk thrives on the power and potential of diversity. As a global company, we believe the most effective way to embrace the diversity of our customers and communities is to mirror it from within. We believe the fusion of various perspectives results in the best outcomes for our employees, our company, our customers, and the world around us. We are committed to an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive through a sense of belonging, respect and contribution.

Sandisk is committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can successfully navigate our careers website and our hiring process. Please contact us at [e-mail] to advise us of your accommodation request. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.

Based on our experience, we anticipate that the application deadline will be 11/03/2026 (3 months from posting), although we reserve the right to close the application process sooner if we hire an applicant for this position before the application deadline. If we are not able to hire someone from this role before the application deadline, we will update this posting with a new anticipated application deadline.

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Compensation & Benefits Details

• An employee’s pay position within the salary range may be based on several factors including but not limited to (1) relevant education; qualifications; certifications; and experience; (2) skills, ability, knowledge of the job; (3) performance, contribution and results; (4) geographic location; (5) shift; (6) internal and external equity; and (7) business and organizational needs.
• The salary range is what we believe to be the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and this range is only applicable for jobs to be performed in California, Colorado, New York or remote jobs that can be performed in California, Colorado and New York. This range may be modified in the future.
• You will be eligible to participate in Sandisk's Short-Term Incentive (STI) Plan, which provides incentive awards based on Company and individual performance. Depending on your role and your performance, you may be eligible to participate in our annual Long-Term Incentive (LTI) program, which consists of restricted stock units (RSUs) or cash equivalents, pursuant to the terms of the LTI plan. Please note that not all roles are eligible to participate in the LTI program, and not all roles are eligible for equity under the LTI plan.RSU awards are also available to eligible new hires, subject to Sandisk's Standard Terms and Conditions for Restricted Stock Unit Awards.
• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid vacation time; paid sick leave; medical/dental/vision insurance; life, accident and disability insurance; tax-advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts; employee assistance program; other voluntary benefit programs such as supplemental life and AD&D, legal plan, pet insurance, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity; tuition reimbursement; transit; the Applause Program, employee stock purchase plan, and the Sandisk's Savings 401(k) Plan.
• Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole discretion, consistent with the law.