Technical Chief of Staff for ASIC Engineering

Astera Labs•San Jose, CA

44d•$216,000 - $300,000•Onsite

About The Position

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions grounded in open standards. 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, 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. Discover more at www.asteralabs.com. We are seeking a technically strong Chief of Staff to the Head of Engineering who will also lead Engineering Program Management across Silicon Engineering. This role is a force-multiplier for Engineering leadership - driving org scale, decision velocity, and execution rigor. The ideal candidate brings deep technical fluency, structured problem-solving, and the ability to drive outcomes through influence rather than hierarchy. The role is fully in person in San Jose.

Requirements

10+ years in semiconductor/SoC/ASIC or adjacent high-complexity engineering environment (e.g., CPU/IP/System companies).
Proven success in Chief of Staff, Staff Program Manager, TPM Director, or similar technical leadership-enablement role.
Strong technical acumen - able to understand engineering trade-offs and make decisions with limited information, challenge assumptions, and earn credibility with senior ICs.
Demonstrated experience running program cadence for complex silicon programs (tapeout, IP integration, etc.).
Proven ability to organize complex workflows and drive consistent follow-through.
High EQ and organizational awareness; can navigate tension and align diverse viewpoints.
Exceptional written/verbal communication, structured thinking, and execution discipline.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience in leading RTL2GDSII chip design is a huge plus.

Responsibilities

Chief of Staff to Head of Engineering
Drive operational cadence: engineering all hands, staff meetings, agenda/material prep, tech talks, university engagements, action follow-through, and leadership syncs.
Frame and resolve high-leverage decisions - proactively surface blockers (technical, operational, organizational) before they escalate.
Manage escalations and organizational friction - diagnose root causes, coordinate resolution paths, and ensure durable fixes.
Partner cross-functionally with Hardware, Product, and Quality teams to ensure clarity of communication, alignment on priorities, and disciplined follow-through on decisions.
Support org design, headcount planning, and hiring prioritization for engineering teams.
Maintain alignment across functions through clear messaging and communication, validate exitance and validation of processes
Navigate org dynamics, build trust, and constructively challenge assumptions; maintain psychological safety.
Support the head of engineering with administrative and org related activities
Lead ASIC Tape out Management (Silicon Programs)
Status management - collect and track status across functions contributing to ASIC tapeouts.
Milestone tracking - maintain methodology checklists and boundary agreements to ensure schedule adherence.
IP and vendor tracking - own visibility into IP deliveries, version inventory, vendor issues, and escalation loops.
Quality & documentation - monitor quality KPIs, ensure engineering documentation completeness.
Requirements tracking - ensure PRDs/features are captured, tracked, baselined.
Resource monitoring - track compute, hardware, storage consumption and thresholds.
Internal reporting - generate status reporting for Silicon Engineering leadership.
Influence Without Authority
Drive cross-engineering outcomes through credibility, clarity, and follow-through - not hierarchy.
Create order in ambiguous spaces; shape scope where it is undefined.