Lead Product Engineer

Role Overview

Astera Labs is seeking a Tech Lead Product Engineer to join our team in San Jose, CA. In this role, you will be at the intersection of silicon development and production excellence, ensuring our industry-leading connectivity solutions meet the highest standards of performance, reliability, and quality as they scale to volume production.

As a key technical contributor, you will own the RF and signal integrity aspects of product engineering — from silicon characterization and validation through production test development and customer-facing debug. You'll work across the full product lifecycle, partnering with design, applications, and operations teams to drive our connectivity products from tape-out to high-volume manufacturing. This is a high-impact role at a company experiencing explosive growth, where your work directly enables the AI infrastructure revolution.

With Astera Labs' portfolio spanning PCIe retimers, Ethernet solutions, and next-generation switching silicon operating at the bleeding edge of SerDes performance, you'll tackle some of the most demanding RF and physical layer challenges in the semiconductor industry.

Key Responsibilities

Silicon Characterization & Validation

Lead RF and signal integrity characterization of high-speed SerDes across PCIe Gen 6/7, Ethernet, and UALink/UCI interfaces

Perform bench measurements using high-speed oscilloscopes, VNAs, BERTs, and TDRs to validate silicon performance against specifications

Analyze S-parameters, eye diagrams, jitter, and channel loss to characterize physical layer performance across PVT corners

Drive silicon qualification and reliability testing to ensure products meet production readiness criteria

Production Test Development

Develop and optimize ATE test programs for RF and high-speed I/O parametric testing

Define test coverage strategies that balance quality, cost, and throughput for volume manufacturing

Correlate bench characterization results with ATE measurements to ensure production screening effectiveness

Partner with OSAT and test vendors to bring up and qualify production test hardware and loadboards

Customer Debug & Applications Support

Provide RF and physical layer expertise to support customer platform bring-up and debug activities

Analyze field returns and customer escalations related to signal integrity and link performance issues

Develop reference measurement methodologies and application notes for high-speed interfaces

Collaborate with applications engineering to resolve interoperability challenges across diverse customer platforms

Cross-Functional Engineering Collaboration

Partner with silicon design teams to provide characterization feedback that informs next-generation product improvements

Drive DFT and design-for-manufacturing improvements based on production test learnings

Contribute to product specifications and datasheet development with measured silicon performance data

Basic Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, RF Engineering, or a related field

5+ years of experience in product engineering, RF characterization, or signal integrity for high-speed semiconductor products

Hands-on experience with RF/SI lab equipment including high-bandwidth oscilloscopes, vector network analyzers, BERTs, and TDRs

Strong understanding of high-speed SerDes physical layer concepts including equalization, jitter analysis, S-parameters, and channel modeling

Experience with ATE test development and production test methodologies for high-speed I/O

Proficiency in data analysis and scripting (Python, MATLAB, or similar)

Preferred Qualifications

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering with emphasis on RF, microwave, or signal integrity

Experience with PCIe, Ethernet, or CXL/UALink interface specifications and compliance testing

Familiarity with high-speed connector/channel design and PCB stackup optimization

Experience with statistical analysis techniques (Cpk, GRR, outlier screening) for production test

Strong communication skills with the ability to present complex RF concepts to cross-functional audiences and customers

Prior experience at a fabless semiconductor company operating in high-growth environments

The salary range for this position is $133,200 to $185,000 depending on experience, level, and business need. This role may be eligible for discretionary bonus, incentives and benefits.