Silicon Validation Engineer: Optics & High-Speed SerDes

Ayar Labs; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Ayar Labs is seeking a silicon validation engineer in San Jose (on-site) to own the silicon bring up and validation of optical chiplets. You will perform post-silicon bringup and characterization across SerDes, photonic, and mixed-signal blocks, building the test infra and automation to ensure products meet specs before customer deployment.

Ideal candidates have hands-on test experience with high-speed devices, strong lab skills, and a collaborative mindset to work with firmware and design teams

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field with 1+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Hands-on post-silicon bringup and validation of high-speed SoC or mixed-signal devices.
• Knowledge of SerDes PHY operation and NRZ/PAM-4 signaling.

Responsibilities

• Perform initial power-on and bringup of new silicon tape-outs, including boot sequence validation, clock/power domain verification, and initial functionality tests.
• Characterize high-speed SerDes interfaces, photonic control blocks, and mixed-signal blocks; define and execute test plans at block and chip level.
• Use lab test equipment (BERT, oscilloscope, OSA, signal generators) to characterize SI, eye diagrams, BER, jitter, and optical performance metrics.
• Develop and maintain Python-based test scripts and automation frameworks for regression and characterization testing.
• Investigate silicon anomalies and failures; collaborate with design/firmware to develop fixes.
• Write test plans, validation reports, and signoff docs; communicate findings to cross-functional teams.
• Partner with firmware, analog/mixed-signal, digital, and systems teams across the product cycle.

Skills

Post-silicon bringup

SerDes PHY operation

Python scripting

Lab automation

Git/version control

Test/measurement

Problem solving in lab

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

BERT

Oscilloscopes

OSA

Signal Analyzers

Job description

Ayar Labs is seeking a silicon validation engineer in San Jose (on-site) to own the silicon bring up and validation of optical chiplets. You will perform post-silicon bringup and characterization across SerDes, photonic, and mixed-signal blocks, building the test infra and automation to ensure products meet specs before customer deployment.

Ideal candidates have hands-on test experience with high-speed devices, strong lab skills, and a collaborative mindset to work with firmware and design teams