---
title: 'Principal Photonics Package Architect at Astera Labs'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-photonics-package-architect-astera-labs-san-jose-california-6xe91eeg5wrg'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Principal Photonics Package Architect at Astera Labs

- **Company:** Astera Labs
- **Location:** San Jose California, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-07-31
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/asteralabs/jobs/4720529005

## 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/).

Location: San Jose, CA (On-site).

## About the Role

Astera Labs is seeking a Principal Photonics Package Architect to define and drive package architecture for next-generation photonics products for scale up and scale out AI infrastructure applications. This is a high-impact senior individual contributor role focused on aligning electrical, thermal, and mechanical design requirements across functions, enabling robust package implementation, and guiding package technology decisions for NPO and CPO products.

## Responsibilities

- Define photonics package architecture, define electrical and optical interface specifications, and establish signal integrity and power integrity requirements.
- Establish and manage Thermal Design Power (TDP) budgets and thermal performance targets.
- Drive cross-functional alignment with EIC, PIC, and hardware teams on co-design constraints and drive system optical link budget.
- Partner with validation, test, and reliability teams to define DFT and DFR requirements and acceptance criteria.
- Finalize bump map and ball map, and manage ECOs and revision control of package design databases.
- Lead package-level design reviews and own the package design technical roadmap.

## Basic Qualifications

- B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related field.
- 10+ years of experience in semiconductor or photonics package development, package design, or package integration, with demonstrated technical leadership.
- Strong understanding of package architecture tradeoffs across electrical, optical, thermal, mechanical, and manufacturability considerations.
- Experience working across chip, board, and system-level design electrical and optical interfaces in complex product development environments.
- Experience with package EDA tools and electrical simulation tools, including Cadence APD+ and Ansys HFSS.
- Experience with advanced packaging design, including 2.5D and 3D package architectures.
- Familiarity with package design flows, design database management, and engineering change control practices.
- Ability to drive technical decisions, resolve cross-functional issues, and communicate architecture direction clearly to stakeholders.
- Strong foundation in design reviews, risk assessment, and design quality from concept through production release.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience with industry-standard optical interfaces and interconnect technologies relevant to package design.
- Experience with advanced photonics packaging technologies for data center interconnects.
- Experience supporting package bring-up and correlating design assumptions with validation results.
- Experience supporting cross-functional design closure with silicon, photonics, board, validation, test, and reliability teams.
- Knowledge of package design for NPO or CPO products.

Salary range is $185,000 to $240,000 depending on experience, level, and business need. This role may be eligible for discretionary bonus, incentives and benefits. 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)

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