Hardware Board Validation Engineering, Director
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Before you apply
Salary$239k – $265k
LocationSan Jose, California, United States
Work modeon-site
Typefull-time
SeniorityDirector
Experience12+ yrs
DepartmentHardware Engineering
Company size1,001–5,000 people
PostedSep 30, 2026 · 1mo ago
Verified live16h ago
At a glanceSummarised by Seekless from the posting.
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field
12 - 15+ years of relevant experience, consistent with Astera Labs’ standardized Director level
Technical management experience leading hardware design, validation, or system engineering teams
Experience with system-level board design from component selection and schematic capture through board bring-up, debug, optimization, validation, and production release
Strong background in high-speed board design for enterprise, data center, server, storage, networking, or AI infrastructure systems
Strong cross-functional collaboration, technical communication, prioritization, and independent problem-solving skills
Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering preferred
Experience with PCIe add-in cards, CEM cards, paddle cards, active electrical cables, servers, JBOD/JBOG systems, networking switches or routers, interconnects, or optical platforms
Proficiency with schematic capture and PCB layout tools such as Cadence and Altium, including working knowledge of Cadence Allegro for design review
Experience with FPGA- or MCU-based hardware design, including pin mapping, device selection, and evaluation of alternative SKUs against system requirements
Experience working with contract manufacturers, offshore manufacturing partners, mechanical and thermal teams, PCB vendors, quality, compliance, and supplier organizations
Experience designing complete high-speed channels that include ICs, sockets, connectors, cables, and customer system interfaces
Experience partnering with silicon characterization and post-silicon validation teams to ensure device performance is achievable in customer systems
Strong technical writing skills, including development of hardware specifications, validation reports, user guides, and other internal and customer-facing documentation
Startup experience and a proactive, hands-on, customer-focused approach to solving complex problems
Skills
Cadence
Altium
Cadence Allegro
FPGA
MCU
About the company
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.
About the role
Director, Hardware Board Validation Engineering
On-Site - San Jose, Ca
Role Overview
Astera Labs is seeking a Director of Hardware Board Validation Engineering to lead the development, bring-up, and validation of board products that enable rack-scale AI infrastructure. Working closely with ASIC, systems, firmware, signal integrity, power integrity, mechanical, thermal, manufacturing, and customer engineering teams, you will guide products from concept and architecture through qualification and mass production.
This is a hands-on leadership role in a fast-moving environment. You will lead a talented engineering team while stepping in to solve complex technical problems, engage directly with customers, and improve hardware development processes. Your work will help ensure Astera Labs’ connectivity and memory products deliver reliable, high-performance systems for cloud service providers, server manufacturers, and networking OEMs.
Key Responsibilities
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Board Product Strategy and Technical Leadership
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Lead board validation strategy across product definition, architecture, component selection, schematic capture, layout review, bring-up, debug, optimization, qualification, and production release.
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Define validation plans, coverage goals, risk assessments, schedules, and exit criteria for high-speed boards, add-in cards, modules, and system platforms.
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Make hands-on technical contributions to unblock critical design, validation, and customer issues in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
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High-Speed Hardware Validation
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Direct board bring-up, silicon/PCB debug, system characterization, margin analysis, and performance optimization across voltage, temperature, channel, and workload conditions.
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Validate high-speed NRZ and PAM4 SerDes-based protocols, including PCIe Gen 3 and above and Ethernet 25G and above, as well as LPDDR4/5 or related memory interfaces.
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Apply signal integrity, power integrity, and power architecture expertise to identify risks and drive practical solutions across circuits, power distribution, connectors, sockets, and cables.
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Cross-Functional and Customer Execution
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Partner with ASIC, post-silicon validation, firmware, systems, mechanical, thermal, quality, compliance, manufacturing, and customer engineering teams to deliver robust board products.
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Engage key customers to understand system requirements, evaluate form factors, propose complete board solutions, and resolve issues through production support.
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Collaborate with contract manufacturers, PCB vendors, and external suppliers to ensure designs are manufacturable, testable, and scalable.
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Team Development and Productization
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Build, mentor, and develop a high-performing hardware engineering team while establishing clear ownership, technical standards, and execution mechanisms.
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Drive products from concept to mass production, including design reviews, validation reporting, manufacturing readiness, documentation, and post-production support.
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Improve hardware development methodologies, lessons learned, and reusable validation practices across Astera Labs’ connectivity and memory product portfolio.
Basic Qualifications
•
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field. Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering preferred.
•
12 - 15+ years of relevant experience, consistent with Astera Labs’ standardized Director level.
•
Technical management experience leading hardware design, validation, or system engineering teams.
•
Experience with system-level board design from component selection and schematic capture through board bring-up, debug, optimization, validation, and production release.
•
Strong background in high-speed board design for enterprise, data center, server, storage, networking, or AI infrastructure systems.
•
Strong cross-functional collaboration, technical communication, prioritization, and independent problem-solving skills.
Nice to have
Preferred Qualifications.
•
Experience with PCIe add-in cards, CEM cards, paddle cards, active electrical cables, servers, JBOD/JBOG systems, networking switches or routers, interconnects, or optical platforms.
•
Proficiency with schematic capture and PCB layout tools such as Cadence and Altium, including working knowledge of Cadence Allegro for design review.
•
Experience with FPGA- or MCU-based hardware design, including pin mapping, device selection, and evaluation of alternative SKUs against system requirements.
•
Experience working with contract manufacturers, offshore manufacturing partners, mechanical and thermal teams, PCB vendors, quality, compliance, and supplier organizations.
•
Experience designing complete high-speed channels that include ICs, sockets, connectors, cables, and customer system interfaces.
•
Experience partnering with silicon characterization and post-silicon validation teams to ensure device performance is achievable in customer systems.
•
Strong technical writing skills, including development of hardware specifications, validation reports, user guides, and other internal and customer-facing documentation.
•
Startup experience and a proactive, hands-on, customer-focused approach to solving complex problems.
Benefits
Salary range is $238,500 to $265,000 depending on experience, level, and business need. This role may be eligible for discretionary bonus, incentives and benefits.
Legal
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.