Applications Engineering Manager

Svitla Inc. is looking for an Applications Engineering Manager to build and lead a photonics test applications team in San Jose, CA, on behalf of our client.

You’ll be the senior technical link between the client’s photonics test products and the customers who rely on them. That means owning two things: your team’s delivery (installation, calibration, troubleshooting, training, and enablement) and the customer relationships that drive product adoption and account growth.

This role fits an experienced applications engineer who is ready to step into leadership. You can still go deep in the lab, but your main impact comes from developing your team, setting technical direction, and owning the regional customer relationship.

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Full-time, on-site San Jose, CA

Requirements

Experience and education

• Bachelor’s degree in Photonics, Optical Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field (Master’s preferred, or equivalent experience).
• 8+ years in optical R&D, design, testing, or applications engineering, including customer-facing work.
• People-management experience, or proven technical leadership (mentor, team lead, project lead) and readiness to formally manage a team.
• Background in high-speed optical communications test: optical transceivers, silicon photonics, and optical links.

Technical skills

• Strong command of photonics testing principles, equipment, and measurement techniques.
• Deep knowledge of high-speed Ethernet standards (IEEE 802.3bs/cd).
• Hands-on experience with optical sampling scopes, CDRs, BERTs, optical spectrum analyzers, and optical power meters.
• Structured troubleshooting from system level down to component level.
• Proficiency in C/C++, Python, or similar languages for test automation.

Leadership and communication

• Proven ability to lead, coach, and develop technical staff.
• Excellent communication skills and the confidence to represent the company to senior customer stakeholders.
• Track record of building long-term customer relationships in a technical environment.
• Experience coordinating across distributed regional teams.

Will be a plus

• Ability to juggle multiple priorities, engineers, and customers at once.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites, regional offices, and company events as needed.

Responsibilities

• Grow, coach, and manage a team of applications engineers.
• Act as the senior technical contact for customers using the company’s photonics test products.
• Own your team’s delivery: installation, calibration, troubleshooting, training, and customer enablement.
• Build lasting customer relationships that support adoption and account growth.
• Guide product development together with engineering and marketing.
• Manage key customer design-in activity.
• Coordinate with regional applications and sales teams, and pass market feedback to R&D and product marketing.