Optical Engineer, Infrastructure Validation

Meta•Menlo Park, CA

13h•$173,000 - $245,000

About The Position

The Meta Hardware Design and Release to Production (Hardware Design and Release to Production) team ensures that the hardware running in Meta's production fleet is stable, secure, performant, and delivers the most value. Within HDRTP, the Release to Production New Product Introduction (RTP-NPI) team finds, debugs, and remediates hardware failure modes before certifying new platforms for mass production, and then sustains them across the deployed lifecycle. We are looking for an Optical Engineer to drive optics validation within RTP-NPI — pairing deep optical-transceiver expertise with Python scripting skills to automate the testing that qualifies optical communications modules and to lead optical transceiver NPI programs end to end. In this role, you will develop optics test automation using Python scripts, drive hands-on NPI execution with vendors and ODMs through EVT/DVT/PVT to mass production, and contribute to optical networking standards and engage with ecosystem partners.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience
Master's degree in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Computer Science, or a related field
10+ years in development roles for optical networking hardware, with a proven track record of taking new products into volume production
Demonstrated experience writing Python scripts to automate test and measurement, including instrument control, data acquisition, and data analysis in a lab environment. Experience developing and maintaining reusable test automation in a team setting
Hands-on experience with high-speed optical and electrical test, test automation, and lab instrumentation
Experience leading optical transceiver NPI programs with vendors and/or ODMs through EVT, DVT, PVT to MP

Nice To Haves

Experience with optical integration including InP PICs, silicon-photonic PICs, PIC-IC integration, and 3D optical packaging technologies
Deep knowledge of pluggable optical transceivers and form factors — QSFP-DD, OSFP, QSFP112 — and the CMIS management interface
Ability to set technical direction across a multi-quarter NPI (New Product Introduction) program, define scope and requirements when they are initially unclear, and align cross-functional and external partners, including vendors, ODMs, TPMs, and Production Engineering
Track record of mentoring engineers, improving engineering standards and practices for test automation quality, and influencing without direct authority
Experience driving NPI milestones — EVT / DVT / PVT / MP — production-readiness reviews, and transferring test scripts and methods to contract manufacturers and ODM factory lines, including dual-ODM strategies
Experience with advanced modulation formats and direct-detect and coherent systems — OOK, PAM-4, QPSK, 8-QAM, 16-QAM — and related concepts
Experience writing Python scripts to automate tests and measurements, with familiarity in debugging, code reuse and shared libraries, and writing clean, maintainable automation
Data handling for test results: schema design, database persistence, dashboards, and statistical analysis of measurement data using NumPy, pandas, SQL or similar tools
Leadership & Scope
Experience with version control — Git or Mercurial — for managing test code in collaborative environments
Optical & NPI Domain
Experience in creating or influencing product requirements documents, test plans, and data sheets
Experience using instrument-control libraries and APIs — SCPI / VISA, PyVISA, vendor APIs — to automate lab instruments including BERT, OSA, power meters, and scopes
Willingness to work hands-on in the lab and to travel to vendor, ODM, and manufacturing sites as needed to support NPI builds
Familiarity with additional languages where useful for test or analysis: C/C++ or MATLAB
Test Automation & Scripting
Expertise in optical test and measurement: BER / FEC, pre-FEC and post-FEC analysis, eye diagrams, TDECQ, OSNR, optical spectrum, and link budgets
Familiarity with data center network architecture, fleet health and sustaining concepts, and high-volume manufacturing test flows

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain Python scripts and test automation for qualification of optical transceivers and subsystems across EVT / DVT / PVT / characterization, using the team's existing test frameworks, instrument drivers, switch and host abstractions, and results pipelines
Lead optics NPI programs end to end, working closely with optics vendors and ODMs from RFI / RFP through EVT / DVT / PVT to mass production ramp and sustaining
Find, debug, and remediate optical hardware failure modes before certifying modules for mass production; drive root-cause analysis and corrective action with vendors and ODMs
Set up and operate NPI test stations in Meta lab regions: integrate modules, switches, and instruments, and debug at-scale, lights-out test execution
Define test and measurement methodologies for high-speed optical technologies, and translate them into reusable Python scripts and automation
Develop instrument automation and integration — BERT, OSA, optical power and wavelength meters, scopes — and CMIS register-level module control using SCPI / VISA / PyVISA and vendor APIs
Ensure new optical platforms are supported by production and fleet-health tooling, and contribute to production-readiness documentation including production-readiness review documentation, best-known configuration guides, and design-for-test specifications
Contribute to data integrity and analysis: build data capture, storage, and visualization so test and fleet results are trustworthy, queryable, and actionable
Provide sustaining support after deployment — validate stability, security, and performance under production workloads, and refine understanding of failure characteristics at scale
Contribute to engineering standards for test automation — code review, version control, documentation — and mentor engineers and technicians on Python scripting best practices and optical test methods
Collaborate across Software, Thermal, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, Signal Integrity, TPM, and Production Engineering teams to integrate optics into systems
Interface with the industry, contribute to the RFI / RFP process, and shape product requirements, test plans, and data sheets