Astera Labs
Technology
HardwareDesignEngineering,SeniorDirectorActiveElectricCable/SmartCableModuleBusiness
“Hardware Design Engineering, Senior Director - Active Electric Cable / Smart Cable Module Business at Astera Labs. Skills: Hardware Design Engineering, Electrical/PCB Design, Mechanical Engineering, Hardware Validation, OEM Enablement. Lead and scale hardware design organization. Oversee Electrical/PCB Hardware Design Engineering”
Industry & Context.
Technical trade-offs; Root cause analysis
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
Hardware design engineering leadership, Electrical/PCB design, Mechanical engineering, Hardware validation, Lab infrastructure, Customer hardware engineering support, Manage engineering teams, Attract, develop, retain talent, Define organizational structure, Define hiring plans, Define career development frameworks, Define technical competency models, Represent hardware design function, Define hardware technology roadmap, Drive technology strategy decisions, Identify next-gen hardware technologies, Partner with Product Management, Partner with Business Development, Drive R&D and new product development, Manage hardware engineering lab infrastructure, Manage measurement capabilities, Engage with OEM customers, Provide reference design support, Provide design reviews, Provide integration guidance, Provide hands-on technical engagement, Make strategic technology decisions, Make detailed technical trade-offs, Manage engineering teams through hyper-growth, Scale organizations, processes, infrastructure, Executive communication skills, Present technology strategy, Present program status, Present risk assessments, Partner with contract manufacturers, Partner with ODMs in Asia
Nice to Have
Master's or Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering, Emphasis on high-speed interconnects, Emphasis on electromagnetic design, Emphasis on mixed-signal systems, Experience developing Active Electrical Cables (AEC), Experience developing Smart Cable Modules (SCM), Experience developing optical transceivers, Experience developing high-speed cable/connector assemblies, Experience designing silicon evaluation platforms (EVBs/SVBs), Experience designing for complex SoCs, Experience designing for ASICs, Experience designing for connectivity silicon, Experience developing rack-scale hardware products, Experience developing chassis-class hardware products, Experience with data center hardware, Experience with hyperscale hardware, Experience with AI infrastructure hardware, Experience with switch chassis, Experience with OCP systems, Track record of successful OEM design enablement, Help customers achieve first-pass success, Integrate complex semiconductor products, Experience building customer-facing hardware engineering support organizations, Experience scaling customer-facing hardware engineering support organizations, Experience with 224G/lane interconnect technology, Experience with next-generation substrate architectures, Experience with next-generation connector architectures, Experience with next-generation cable architectures, Track record delivering connectivity products to hyperscale customers, Experience integrating retimer ASICs, Experience with IEEE 802.3ck/dj, Experience with OIF CEI-112G/224G, Experience with SFF-8636, Experience with CMIS 5.x+, Experience with OSFP, Experience with QSFP-DD, Experience with OCP specifications, Experience with rack-scale system design, Experience with power distribution, Experience with thermal/airflow architecture, Experience with BMC/management interfaces, Experience with high-density backplane design, Experience with high-density midplane design, Background in FMEA, Background in DFMEA, Background in robust design methodologies, Background in six-sigma quality approaches, Mandarin language proficiency, Experience with simulation tools, Experience with EDA tools, Experience with Cadence Allegro/OrCAD, Experience with Ansys HFSS/SIwave, Experience with Keysight ADS, Experience with SolidWorks/Creo, Experience with thermal simulation tools, Experience with CFD simulation tools
What You'll Do.
Lead and scale hardware design organization
Oversee Electrical/PCB Hardware Design Engineering
Oversee Mechanical Engineering
Oversee Hardware Validation Engineering
Oversee Lab Engineering & Infrastructure
Oversee Customer Hardware Engineering & OEM Enablement
and lead engineering teams
Define organizational structure
Define career development frameworks
Define technical competency models
Foster culture of engineering excellence
Foster culture of rigorous design practices
Foster culture of cross-functional collaboration
Foster culture of customer-centric support
Represent hardware design function in executive reviews
Represent hardware design function in board updates
Represent hardware design function in strategic planning
Define and manage hardware technology roadmap
Drive technology strategy decisions
Identify and invest in next-generation hardware technologies
Partner with Product Management
Partner with Business Development
Translate customer needs into priorities
Translate market requirements into priorities
Translate standards evolution into priorities
Align hardware design roadmap with silicon roadmaps
Align hardware design roadmap with customer requirements
Align hardware design roadmap with market trends
Align hardware design roadmap with competitive dynamics
Align hardware design roadmap with silicon tape-out schedules
Align hardware design roadmap with firmware development timelines
Align hardware design roadmap with manufacturing readiness milestones
Align hardware design roadmap with OEM customer design-in
Incorporate customer feedback into roadmap decisions
Incorporate OEM feedback into roadmap decisions
Evolve reference designs
Evolve evaluation platforms
Evolve design collateral
Drive R&D for hardware products
Drive new product development for hardware products
Manage hardware engineering lab infrastructure
Manage hardware engineering measurement capabilities
Engage with OEM customers on hardware design enablement
Provide design reviews for OEM customers
Develop reference designs for OEM customers
Provide customer technical support for silicon/ASIC integration
Make strategic technology decisions
Make detailed technical trade-offs
Manage engineering teams through hyper-growth
Present technology strategy to leadership
Present program status to leadership
Present risk assessments to leadership
Present technology strategy to customers
Present program status to customers
Present risk assessments to customers
Partner with contract manufacturers
Partner with ODMs in Asia for hardware product
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Cross-functional teams; Engineering leadership team; Silicon teams; Firmware teams; Signal integrity teams; NPI teams; Manufacturing teams; Quality teams; Product management teams; Sales teams; Customer-facing teams; OEM customers; Design partners; Contract manufacturers; ODMs in Asia
Communication Scope
Executive presentations; Board-level reporting; Technical communication
Process & Methodology
Roadmap planning, Product development lifecycle, NPI process, Manufacturing readiness, Design-in timelines
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