Senior Optical System Engineer

What Youll Do

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Optical System Engineer to join ourhardware engineering team focused on next-generation AI/datacenter optical interconnect this role you will lead the design development validation qualification and optimization of advanced optical sub-systems including silicon photonics PICs optical engines high-speed DSP-based optical links and 1.6T/3.2T optical Interconnects.
The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in optical systems CPO/OCI architectures system-level interoperability high-speed optical/electrical characterization automated test development and optical system qualification. This role requires close collaboration with photonics DSP/ASIC SI/PI packaging firmware and manufacturing teams to support the development and production ramp of scalable high-performance and power-efficient optical interconnect solutions for hyperscale AI infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead system-level design validation and qualification of advanced optical interconnect products including 1.6T/3.2T optical interconnect silicon photonics PICs optical engines DSP-based optical links and CPO/OCI systems.
• Develop and execute comprehensive validation plans for optical modules high-speed electrical and optical interfaces switch-level interoperability and rack-level system qualification.
• Characterize and optimize key optical and electrical performance metrics including BER TDECQ jitter OSNR extinction ratio receiver sensitivity eye quality link margin and power efficiency.
• Perform module-level simulation-level and system-level qualification testing for IMDD and coherent optical systems.
• Lead high-speed optical and electrical debug activities for PAM4 links operating at 200G/lane 400G/lane and beyond.
• Develop automate and maintain optical/electrical test stations using Python MATLAB LabVIEW and database-driven analytics tools.
• Collaborate closely with photonics DSP/ASIC SI/PI packaging firmware manufacturing and system architecture teams to optimize overall system performance and manufacturability.
• Support optical architecture development for AI clusters XPO/LPO/LRO systems co- packaged optics optical switching systems and optical compute fabrics.
• Contribute to industry standards activities including IEEE 802.3 OIF CMIS and MSA specifications.
• Analyze test results and generate detailed technical reports to support design reviews customer qualification and production deployment.

Qualifications :

• Bachelors degree in Optical Engineering Electrical Engineering Physics or a closely related field.
• Minimum 5 years of hands-on experience in optical system validation optical transceiver qualification or optical subsystem testing.
• Strong experience with silicon photonics PICs optical transceivers optical engines high-speed DSP-based links CPO/OCI architectures LPO/LRO/XPO optical systems and AI/datacenter optical interconnect architectures.
• Direct experience with 400G 800G and 1.6T optical systems PAM4 modulation high-speed Rx/Tx characterization switch-level interoperability testing firmware and EEPROM validation BER/TDECQ/RIN measurements receiver sensitivity testing and wafer-level optical characterization.
• Strong familiarity with optical communication principles including NRZ/PAM4 modulation dispersion OSNR jitter equalization signal integrity and power integrity concepts.
• Proficiency with optical and electrical lab instrumentation including BERTs DCAs high-speed oscilloscopes OSAs tunable lasers VOAs network analyzers high-speed probes and fixtures and optical power meters.
• Strong experience with test automation and scripting using Python MATLAB and LabVIEW along with familiarity with database-driven analytics and regression automation frameworks.
• Familiarity with optical and RF simulation tools such as Lumerical HFSS ADS COMSOL VPI and Zemax.
• Strong understanding of IEEE 802.3 standards QSFP-DD/OSFP modules CMIS optical module architectures equalization techniques including CTLE DFE and FIR as well as optical packaging and thermal considerations.
• Experience with interoperability testing root-cause and debugging.
• Strong analytical troubleshooting debugging and communication skills with the ability to work independently and collaboratively in cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Masters or Ph.D. degree in Optical Engineering Electrical Engineering Physics or a related field.
• Experience with silicon photonics optical engine packaging AI interconnect architectures optical switching systems co-packaged optics (CPO) Optical Compute Interconnect (OCI) and coherent optical systems.
• Experience with high-speed transceiver and optical engine testing at 100G 400G 800G and 1.6T data rates.
• Familiarity with DSP tuning and equalization techniques including CTLE DFE FIR equalization adaptive equalization and PAM4 eye optimization.
• Familiarity with optical and RF simulation tools including Lumerical HFSS ADS COMSOL VPI and Zemax.
• Exposure to AI cluster optical interconnect architectures optical switching fabrics XPO/LPO/LRO systems and high-density optical engine architectures.
• Experience with database-driven analytics platforms automated regression validation systems and production test automation frameworks is highly desirable.
• Publications patents industry conference presentations or contributions to IEEE OIF MSA or CMIS standards activities are considered a strong plus.

Additional Information :

Arista Networks is an equal opportunity employer.  Arista makes all hiring and employment-related decisions in a non-discriminatory manner without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin or any other factor determined to be unlawful under applicable federal state or law law.  All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time