Principal Product Applications Engineer

Astera Labs•San Jose, CA

13h•$133,200 - $185,000

About The Position

Astera Labs is redefining the fabric of AI infrastructure with our Scorpio Smart Fabric Switches — purpose-built silicon that connects GPUs, CPUs, and accelerators at rack scale. As a Principal Product Applications Engineer on the Scorpio team, you will be the technical face of our switching portfolio to the world's leading hyperscalers, AI system builders, and platform partners, guiding them from first evaluation through production deployment. This is a high-impact, customer-facing role at the center of one of the fastest-growing categories in semiconductors. You will lead customer system design-in and Scorpio-related debug, develop customer-facing collateral, lead cross-functional Scorpio-related initiatives, and drive and validate new features across PCIe Gen 6 / Gen 7 & UALink platforms — directly influencing the roadmap of a hyper-growth company powering the next generation of AI compute.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
8+ years of experience in product applications, systems engineering, or post-silicon validation on high-speed connectivity or networking silicon
Strong understanding of the physical layer and high-speed serial interfaces (PCIe, Ethernet, UALink, UCIe, or similar)
Hands-on experience with lab bring-up, debug, and system-level integration — including scopes, BERTs, and protocol analyzers
Proven track record engaging directly with hyperscaler, cloud, or Tier-1 OEM/ODM customers on complex technical deployments
Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate deep technical detail into clear customer-facing narratives

Nice To Haves

MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field
Direct experience with PCIe Gen 6 / Gen 7, UALink, or UCIe protocols and compliance testing
Familiarity with AI/ML rack-scale architectures, GPU fabrics, and accelerator interconnects
Scripting and automation experience (Python, shell) for validation and diagnostics
Background contributing to standards bodies (PCI-SIG, UALink Consortium, UCIe) or authoring technical publications

Responsibilities

Lead technical engagements with hyperscalers, ODMs, and AI system partners from architecture discussions through design-in and evaluation
Own on-site and remote bring-up, debug, and performance tuning of Scorpio-based platforms at customer sites
Translate customer requirements into actionable feedback for product, silicon, and firmware teams
Influence post-silicon validation plans and execute system-level integration on next-generation switching platforms
Debug complex multi-domain issues spanning protocol (UALink, UCIe, PCIe Gen 6/7), signal integrity, firmware, and software stacks
Partner with hardware, firmware, and SI/PI teams to root-cause issues and deliver production-ready solutions
Serve as the go-to Scorpio applications expert across sales, marketing, product, and engineering
Mentor junior applications engineers and represent Astera Labs at industry forums, standards bodies, and customer executive reviews
Author white papers, technical collateral, and training materials that scale the team's impact