Hardware Manager, Post-Silicon Electrical Validation

Cisco•San Jose, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a Hardware Manager, Post-Silicon Electrical Validation with deep expertise in lab-intensive hardware validation to lead testing and debug of high-performance networking silicon. This role is heavily focused on hands-on work in silicon validation labs, driving early-silicon bring-up, performing advanced electrical and protocol measurements, and owning end-to-end root-cause analysis of silicon, package, and board-level issues. The position offers significant technical ownership, cross-functional influence, and exposure to complex networking ASICs and high-speed interfaces.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field with 12 + years of experience in post-silicon electrical validation, hardware bring-up and lab-based silicon debug
Experience in electronics, digital logic, signal integrity, and power integrity
Experience in high-speed measurement techniques (eye diagrams, BER, jitter, compliance testing)
Experience with interfaces such as DDR5, USB 3.x, SGMII, PCIe Gen3, USB2.0, eMMC, SPI, MDIO, I2C, and UART
Experience with Reading and Reviewing schematics and layout files for complex boards
Experience working independently, lead, plan and execute lab-based debug efforts

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with silicon bring-up and post-silicon validation labs
Experience validating Ethernet, PCIe, and SerDes interfaces
Scripting skills for lab automation and data analysis (Python preferred)
Understanding of networking fundamentals and packet-based systems

Responsibilities

Lead hands-on post-silicon electrical validation in lab environments for networking ASICs and evaluation platforms
Own early-silicon bring-up activities from first power-on through feature enablement
Define, execute, and refine detailed hardware validation plans covering functionality characterization, performance, and reliability
Drive validation readiness, lab infrastructure setup, and test coverage strategy
Lead power-on sequencing, reset strategy validation, clock bring-up, and strap configuration
Perform in-depth voltage, current, power integrity (PDN), and signal integrity analysis
Capture, analyze, and interpret waveforms, eye diagrams, jitter, BER, PDN measurements, power supply stability and noise.
Independently isolate and root-cause silicon, package, board, or signal integrity issues
Lead validation of Ethernet MAC/PHY and high-speed interfaces such as PCIe and SerDes
Oversee packet-level validation using traffic generators and protocol analyzers
Validate system-level behavior under real-world networking workloads
Advanced-level operation of oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, VNAs, protocol analyzers, BERTs, and multimeters
Develop and maintain lab automation using scripts and frameworks (e.g., Python)
Plan and execute thermal testing using chambers and chillers across operating ranges

Benefits

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance.
Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.
U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies: 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco
Non-exempt employees receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees
Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next
Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members
Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.