---
title: 'Principal Electrical Design Engineer at Astera Labs'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-electrical-design-engineer-astera-labs-san-jose-california-6nx1y646w2fc'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Principal Electrical Design Engineer at Astera Labs

- **Company:** Astera Labs
- **Location:** San Jose California, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-09-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/asteralabs/jobs/4731026005

## Job description

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at [www.asteralabs.com](http://www.asteralabs.com/).

Job Description

Principal Electrical Design Engineer

Board Hardware Engineering Department: Hardware Engineering Reports To: [Engineering Leadership] Job Type: Full-Time, Exempt Level: Principal Electrical Design Engineer (L4) Location: San Jose, On-site

## About the Role

We are seeking a Principal Electrical Design Engineer to define and drive the architecture, design, and technical strategy for advanced board-level hardware across next-generation networking and high-performance connectivity platforms. This role encompasses complex hardware systems including chassis boards, NIC cards, PCIe Gen6 platforms, and 800G Ethernet products.

This is a principal-level technical leadership role requiring deep domain expertise, strategic vision, and organizational influence. You will set the technical direction for board architecture, establish design methodologies, drive innovation in high-speed system design, and serve as the top technical authority across multiple programs. You will partner with and influence silicon, SI/PI, mechanical, firmware, manufacturing, system, and executive teams to deliver industry-leading products from concept through production and beyond.

## Key Responsibilities

Technical Strategy and Architecture Leadership

- Define and own the board-level hardware architecture and technical roadmap across multiple product lines and platform generations
- Establish design standards, methodologies, and best practices that scale across the hardware engineering organization
- Drive architectural tradeoff decisions for complex multi-layer PCBs integrating high-speed digital, analog, and mixed-signal circuitry, balancing performance, cost, schedule, and manufacturability
- Get involved and drive discussions on stack-up strategy, impedance optimization and other SI relates development work
- Own power delivery architecture strategy including multi-rail regulation topologies, advanced sequencing schemes, transient response optimization, protection philosophies, and power budgeting across platform generations
- Define and evolve hardware implementation strategies for management and control interfaces such as I2C, SPI, GPIO, MDIO, and debug and observability architectures

Electrical Design Ownership

- Own schematic capture and board-level design for complex multi-layer PCBs with high-speed digital, analog, and mixed-signal circuitry
- Serve as the technical authority for board-level hardware development across high-performance server and connectivity platforms, including NIC cards, PCIe add-in cards, and chassis-integrated hardware
- Provide technical oversight and approval for schematic capture and board-level designs across multiple designs
- Lead component strategy and qualification roadmaps in partnership with suppliers, sourcing, and manufacturing teams
- Drive design-for-excellence initiatives including DFT, DFM, and DFR to systematically improve manufacturability, yield, reliability, and production readiness across all programs

Bring-Up, Validation, and Debug Leadership

- Define and own the bring-up and validation strategy for new hardware platforms, establishing frameworks that improve first-pass success rates across the organization
- Lead root-cause analysis of the most complex and escalated hardware issues across high-speed interfaces, power delivery, clocks, resets, and control paths
- Drive systemic improvements to debug methodologies, validation coverage, and failure analysis processes
- Partner with firmware, software, and system teams to define and validate initialization sequences, telemetry, diagnostics, and platform-level functionality
- Own corrective action frameworks and feed lessons learned into design standards and review processes

Cross-Functional Impact

- Serve as the technical point of escalation and decision-maker for hardware design challenges across the organization
- Work closely with SI/PI, mechanical, thermal, firmware, system, and manufacturing teams throughout the product lifecycle, driving alignment and resolving cross-domain technical conflicts
- Interface with silicon vendors and internal ASIC teams at a strategic level on platform architecture, bring-up, errata resolution, compliance, and next-generation readiness
- Mentor and develop senior and lead engineers, raising the technical bar across the hardware engineering team
- Lead and contribute to design reviews and architectural reviews, and technical publications that advance the team’s collective expertise
- Represent the hardware engineering organization in executive reviews, customer engagements, and industry forums as needed

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field; advanced degree preferred
- 12+ years of progressive hardware design experience with deep expertise in board-level electrical engineering and demonstrated technical leadership across multiple product generations
- Extensive track record of architecting and delivering production hardware for server, networking, storage, or high-performance compute systems at scale
- Expert-level experience with high-speed SerDes-based systems supporting Ethernet, PCIe, or related protocols; deep hands-on experience with PCIe Gen5/Gen6 and 400G/800G Ethernet system design
- Expert understanding of signal integrity fundamentals including impedance control, differential pair routing, channel loss optimization, crosstalk mitigation, and layout review for high-speed interfaces
- Expert power integrity and PDN design knowledge including advanced sequencing, decoupling strategies, transient response optimization, and power architecture tradeoffs at system level
- Mastery of industry-standard schematic capture and PCB design and review tools such as Cadence Allegro or OrCAD
- Proven track record leading hardware bring-up and debug of complex platforms using oscilloscopes, protocol analyzers, and advanced lab instrumentation
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence technical direction across organizational boundaries from architecture through validation and production
- Strong track record of mentoring engineers and elevating team capabilities

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience defining architecture for NIC cards, accelerator cards, or other PCIe add-in card platforms across multiple generations
- Experience leading server chassis or system board design programs in dense, thermally constrained, high-availability environments
- Deep expertise with 800G Ethernet and emerging 1.6T electrical interfaces and system integration challenges
- Experience architecting solutions using retimers, redrivers, advanced clocking architectures, and high-speed interconnect subsystems
- Expertise in compliance and validation workflows for PCIe and Ethernet platforms, including contributions to industry specifications or standards bodies
- Experience driving contract manufacturer relationships, production ramp strategies, and yield optimization for complex hardware products
- Scripting and automation proficiency in Python or similar languages for lab automation, measurement analysis, hardware characterization workflows, and design flow optimization
- Experience influencing product strategy and roadmap decisions at the organizational level

Base pay range for this role is $185,000 - $240,000. Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions.

We know that creativity and innovation happen more often when teams include diverse ideas, backgrounds, and experiences, and we actively encourage everyone with relevant experience to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people, veterans, parents, and individuals with disabilities.

## About Astera Labs

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Astera Labs designs and delivers semiconductor-based connectivity solutions purpose-built to unleash the full potential of cloud and AI infrastructure.
- **Entity Type**: Public (Nasdaq: ALAB)
- **Headquarters**: Santa Clara, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Jitendra Mohan, Sanjay Gajendra, Casey Morrison

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Semiconductor manufacturing / AI infrastructure connectivity
- **Target customers**: B2B, primarily hyperscale cloud providers and system OEMs (e.g., NVIDIA, AMD, Intel)
- **Mission statement**: To innovate, design, and deliver semiconductor-based connectivity solutions that are purpose-built to unleash the full potential of cloud and AI infrastructure.

## Products & Services
- **Aries PCIe®/CXL™ Smart DSP Retimers**: Silicon ICs, boards, and modules that digitally recover degraded high-speed signals to extend reach and enable higher PCIe/CXL data bandwidth between compute, storage, and network controllers.
- **Taurus Ethernet Smart Cable Modules™**: Hardware modules that increase network connectivity bandwidth between servers and switches over copper media, removing rack-level Ethernet bottlenecks.
- **Leo CXL Memory Connectivity Controllers**: ICs and boards that expand, share, and pool DRAM memory to overcome processor memory bandwidth bottlenecks for AI workloads.
- **Scorpio Smart Fabric Switches**: A family of PCIe 6 fabric switches ranging from 32 to 320 lanes, including the new 320-lane Scorpio X-Series Fabric Switch for AI scale-up fabrics.
- **COSMOS Software Suite**: A connectivity system management and optimization software that enables configuration, monitoring, troubleshooting, and predictive analytics for all Astera Labs products.

## Market Standing
- **Market Cap**: ~$11.6 billion (as of mid-2026)
- **Key Metric - Revenue**: $35 million (annual, reported)
- **Key Metric - Operating Income**: $173.4 million (2025)
- **Key Metric - Net Income**: $219.1 million (2025)
- **Total Funding**: ~$810.75 million (pre-IPO), with Series C ($50M, led by Fidelity) and Series D ($150M, led by Fidelity)
- **IPO Date**: March 20, 2024
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Fidelity, NVIDIA, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, major hyperscalers
- **Growth Signals**: 92% YoY headcount growth (675 employees); 144 active job postings (+260% YoY); expanded Taiwan operations with a new Cloud-Scale Interop Lab in 2026; shipping millions of devices across all major hyperscalers; 300+ design wins.

## Competitive Advantages
- **First-to-market innovation**: Pioneered first-to-market PCIe, Ethernet, and CXL connectivity products.
- **Patented software-defined platform approach**: Differentiates via a platform that combines silicon hardware with embedded COSMOS software, enabling flexibility, observability, and predictive analytics.
- **Deep hyperscaler relationships**: Trusted partner to the world’s largest cloud providers, with proven interoperability validated in their own Cloud-Scale Interop Lab.
- **Broad product portfolio**: Covers PCIe retimers, Ethernet cable modules, CXL memory controllers, and fabric switches—addressing the full spectrum of AI connectivity bottlenecks.
- **Strong IP and engineering talent**: 443 employees in technical roles; talent sourced from Intel (65), Marvell (37), Texas Instruments (40), AMD (22), and NVIDIA.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling AI infrastructure**: Expanding product portfolio and global footprint (12 countries) to meet surging demand for rack-scale AI.
- **Open standards leadership**: All products are grounded in open standards (PCIe, CXL, Ethernet), ensuring interoperability and broad adoption.
- **Taiwan expansion**: Growing engineering presence and Interop Lab in Taiwan to strengthen integration with leading AI platform providers and system manufacturers.
- **Continued innovation**: Shipping the new 320-lane Scorpio X-Series Fabric Switch and expanding the COSMOS software suite for fleet-level management and optimization.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as collaborative, ownership-driven, and focused on solving complex problems together. The company emphasizes diversity and inclusion as drivers of creativity and innovation.
- **Growth**: Astera Labs supports non-linear career growth—employees can deepen expertise (“scale up”) or broaden into new areas (“scale out”). 92% YoY headcount growth signals rapid expansion and opportunity.
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Not explicitly stated, but global operations across 12 countries (including India, Canada, Israel, Taiwan, Vietnam) suggest a flexible, distributed work model.
- **Benefits**: Competitive medical, dental, and vision plans; flexible time off; family planning and parental leave; 401K and retirement plans.
- **Engineering culture**: Strong focus on cutting-edge semiconductor and AI infrastructure technology. High concentration of senior (24%) and specialist (19%) talent. Active internship and new graduate programs.
- **Employee ratings**: 4.5/5.0 on LinkedIn (124 reviews), with high marks for compensation (4.6), culture (4.4), and career development (4.4).

## Sources
1. [Astera Labs Careers Page](https://www.asteralabs.com/careers/)
2. [Astera Labs Official Website](https://www.asteralabs.com/)
3. [Astera Labs LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-labs)
4. [Astera Labs Products Page](https://www.asteralabs.com/products/)
5. [Astera Labs S-1 Filing (SEC)](https://ir.asteralabs.com/static-files/7103a4cb-aa6b-4f11-a4b0-f179cd4c5bee)

## Other roles at Astera Labs

- [Senior STA Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-sta-engineer-astera-labs-ahmedabad-gujarat-c3v8grbhy8wn) — Ahmedabad Gujarat, India
- [Tech Lead, Physical Design](https://feeny.ai/job/tech-lead-physical-design-astera-labs-bengaluru-qf292d2t7tcg) — Bengaluru, India
- [Senior Digital Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-digital-design-engineer-astera-labs-toronto-msea5r66yqk1) — Toronto, Canada
- [Process Engineer Cleaning & Coating /Day Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/process-engineer-cleaning-coating-day-shift-astera-labs-aachen-north-rhine-gtbmag20fcd1) — Aachen North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- [Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/test-engineer-astera-labs-aachen-north-rhine-westphalia-9h3jrr7zeyxv) — Aachen North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- [Lead Logic Design for UALink IP/Subsystem Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-logic-design-for-ualink-ip-subsystem-engineer-astera-labs-bengaluru-e1yyte8016v3) — Bengaluru, India
- [Principal Emulation Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-emulation-engineer-astera-labs-san-jose-california-z7sj80tsjm8y) — San Jose California, United States
- [Principal Package Signal & Power Integrity](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-package-signal-power-integrity-astera-labs-san-jose-california-23vv9bk9kh0d) — San Jose California, United States
- [Senior Principal Automation Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-principal-automation-engineer-astera-labs-san-jose-california-9nrgfjvqqyqm) — San Jose California, United States
- [Tech Lead Automation Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/tech-lead-automation-engineer-astera-labs-san-jose-california-13cx0vpz7q9z) — San Jose California, United States