What are the responsibilities and job description for the Optical Transceiver Qualification Engineer position at Advanced Micro Devices, Inc?
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THE ROLE:
We are seeking a Senior Engineer to lead data center optical transceiver qualification and system optics testing. The role involves deep technical work across electrical/optical validation, automation, and interoperability testing. Ideal candidates will have hands-on experience with 400G/800G optics, 100G-PAM4 per lane signaling, and industry standards like CMIS and SFF-8636. A strong understanding of optical module functional blocks and host switch configuration, such as Broadcom Tomahawk-based platforms, is also required.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Develop and execute transceiver qualification plans, including electrical, optical, and system-level validation
- Perform compliance and performance testing for 100G/lane PAM4 transceivers (400G/800G)
- Validate optical transceiver block functionality, including CDR, DSP, modulator driver, TIA, EML/DML/VCSEL optics. Loopback, DDM/DOM monitoring, FEC performance under stress
- Configure and debug host-side switches, for example, Broadcom Tomahawk (TH4/TH5)-based platforms, using SDK/CLI
- Verify host-module interoperability, link training, lane tuning, and signal integrity performance
- Validate compliance to MSA CMIS (v4.0 ) and SFF-8636, including diagnostics, state machines, and memory maps
- Automate testing and reporting using Python
- Conduct signal integrity analysis: eye mask testing, VEC, TDECQ, COM, CTLE/FFE/DFE tuning
- Perform thermal cycling, power stress, voltage margining, and environmental reliability testing
- Analyze results and drive root cause investigations with R&D and supplier teams
- Support vendor qualification, platform-level bring-up, and firmware validation
- Lead test infrastructure improvements and collaborate with cross-functional teams on release readiness
PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:
- 5 years of experience in the optical networking or high-speed data communications industry
- Strong hands-on experience with 100G/lane optical transceivers, QSFP-DD/OSFP/QSFP112, 400G/800G/1.6T
- In-depth knowledge of optical transceiver functional blocks and how they impact system performance
- Familiar with host switch configuration and testing, ideally with Broadcom Tomahawk based switches
- Experience with: CMIS, SFF-8636, I2C communication, memory map register control. Lab instruments: DCA-X, BERT, real-time scope, OSA, power meters
- Skilled in Python scripting for automation and data processing
- Strong understanding of SerDes tuning eye diagrams, jitter, and electrical compliance
- Experience working across both module and system (host) sides of the link
- Experience with: AOC/DAC, pluggable transceivers, and high-volume test setups. Host board electrical compliance testing. CMIS extensions, vendor-specific diagnostic fields. Optical protocol test tools (Ixia, Spirent)
- Knowledge of thermal and airflow design for transceiver deployment in data center switches
ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS:
- B.S. or M.S. in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related
LOCATION: Santa Clara, California (Onsite)
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