Technical Lead Product Engineer, RF

Role Overview

Astera Labs is seeking a Technical 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 20+ GHz 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 20+ GHz High-Speed SerDes, 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 $160,000 to $200,000 depending on experience, level, and business need. This role may be eligible for discretionary bonus, incentives and benefits.