{"id":3345351,"url":"https://alion.io/job/astera-labs-hardware-board-validation-engineering-director","title":"Hardware Board Validation Engineering, Director","company":{"id":178069,"name":"Astera Labs","domain":"asteralabs.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/astera-labs-2","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":82,"open_postings":52,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.519,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":77,"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"head","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Jose, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":269000,"max_usd":493000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":80},"experience_years_min":12,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"NVLink","optional":false},{"name":"Cadence Allegro","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-30T21:13:36Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-27","last_verified_at":"2026-10-29T00:42:27Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":28,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":28},"description":"Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. 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, NVLink, 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. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at www.asteralabs.com.\nDirector, Hardware Board Validation Engineering\nOn-Site - San Jose, Ca\nRole Overview\nAstera Labs is seeking a Director of Hardware Board Validation Engineering to lead the development, bring-up, and validation of board products that enable rack-scale AI infrastructure. Working closely with ASIC, systems, firmware, signal integrity, power integrity, mechanical, thermal, manufacturing, and customer engineering teams, you will guide products from concept and architecture through qualification and mass production.\nThis is a hands-on leadership role in a fast-moving environment. You will lead a talented engineering team while stepping in to solve complex technical problems, engage directly with customers, and improve hardware development processes. Your work will help ensure Astera Labs’ connectivity and memory products deliver reliable, high-performance systems for cloud service providers, server manufacturers, and networking OEMs.\nKey Responsibilities\nBoard Product Strategy and Technical LeadershipLead board validation strategy across product definition, architecture, component selection, schematic capture, layout review, bring-up, debug, optimization, qualification, and production release.\nDefine validation plans, coverage goals, risk assessments, schedules, and exit criteria for high-speed boards, add-in cards, modules, and system platforms.\nMake hands-on technical contributions to unblock critical design, validation, and customer issues in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.\n\nHigh-Speed Hardware ValidationDirect board bring-up, silicon/PCB debug, system characterization, margin analysis, and performance optimization across voltage, temperature, channel, and workload conditions.\nValidate high-speed NRZ and PAM4 SerDes-based protocols, including PCIe Gen 3 and above and Ethernet 25G and above, as well as LPDDR4/5 or related memory interfaces.\nApply signal integrity, power integrity, and power architecture expertise to identify risks and drive practical solutions across circuits, power distribution, connectors, sockets, and cables.\n\nCross-Functional and Customer ExecutionPartner with ASIC, post-silicon validation, firmware, systems, mechanical, thermal, quality, compliance, manufacturing, and customer engineering teams to deliver robust board products.\nEngage key customers to understand system requirements, evaluate form factors, propose complete board solutions, and resolve issues through production support.\nCollaborate with contract manufacturers, PCB vendors, and external suppliers to ensure designs are manufacturable, testable, and scalable.\n\nTeam Development and ProductizationBuild, mentor, and develop a high-performing hardware engineering team while establishing clear ownership, technical standards, and execution mechanisms.\nDrive products from concept to mass production, including design reviews, validation reporting, manufacturing readiness, documentation, and post-production support.\nImprove hardware development methodologies, lessons learned, and reusable validation practices across Astera Labs’ connectivity and memory product portfolio.\n\nBasic Qualifications\nBachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field. Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering preferred.\n12 - 15+ years of relevant experience, consistent with Astera Labs’ standardized Director level.\nTechnical management experience leading hardware design, validation, or system engineering teams.\nExperience with system-level board design from component selection and schematic capture through board bring-up, debug, optimization, validation, and production release.\nStrong background in high-speed board design for enterprise, data center, server, storage, networking, or AI infrastructure systems.\nStrong cross-functional collaboration, technical communication, prioritization, and independent problem-solving skills.\nPreferred Qualifications.\nExperience with PCIe add-in cards, CEM cards, paddle cards, active electrical cables, servers, JBOD/JBOG systems, networking switches or routers, interconnects, or optical platforms.\nProficiency with schematic capture and PCB layout tools such as Cadence and Altium, including working knowledge of Cadence Allegro for design review.\nExperience with FPGA- or MCU-based hardware design, including pin mapping, device selection, and evaluation of alternative SKUs against system requirements.\nExperience working with contract manufacturers, offshore manufacturing partners, mechanical and thermal teams, PCB vendors, quality, compliance, and supplier organizations.\nExperience designing complete high-speed channels that include ICs, sockets, connectors, cables, and customer system interfaces.\nExperience partnering with silicon characterization and post-silicon validation teams to ensure device performance is achievable in customer systems.\nStrong technical writing skills, including development of hardware specifications, validation reports, user guides, and other internal and customer-facing documentation.\nStartup experience and a proactive, hands-on, customer-focused approach to solving complex problems.\nSalary range is $238,500 to $265,000 depending on experience, level, and business need. This role may be eligible for discretionary bonus, incentives and benefits.\nWe know that creativity and innovation happen more often when teams include diverse ideas, backgrounds, and experiences, and we actively encourage everyone with relevant experience to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people, veterans, parents, and individuals with disabilities.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6351,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":12,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Processors, MCUs & AI Chips","Servers & Data Center Hardware"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-27T17:02:17Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 77 · green card filings: 7","filings_12m":77,"filings_prev_12m":50,"green_card_filings_12m":7,"median_offered_wage_usd":168155,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":54}],"liveness":{"score":57,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.632,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":27,"expected_fill_days":77,"reasons":["conf:3","stale_co","velocity","win:mid","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/astera-labs-hardware-board-validation-engineering-director","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/astera-labs-hardware-board-validation-engineering-director.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-29T03:02:49Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":4590,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-30T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":178069},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=178069"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fastera-labs-hardware-board-validation-engineering-director"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fastera-labs-hardware-board-validation-engineering-director"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fastera-labs-hardware-board-validation-engineering-director"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/astera-labs-hardware-board-validation-engineering-director\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fastera-labs-hardware-board-validation-engineering-director"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3345351}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"asteralabs.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3345351},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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