System Validation Engineer

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.

We are looking for a Post-Silicon Validation Engineer with strong hands-on experience in PCIe link bring-up, physical-layer debug, and silicon validation. Engineer will work closely with Design, Architecture, Firmware, Software, Engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform hands-onpost-silicon validation
• Debug PCIe link issues including link training, LTSSM, equalization, recovery, resets, and link stability.
• Analyze PCIe state-machine traces, protocol traces, registers, logs, eye diagrams, and lab measurements.
• Drive complex issues from initial failure through root-cause analysis and final resolution.
• Work closely with silicon, firmware, software, architecture, and signal-integrity engineers to isolate issues across HW/FW/SW boundaries.
• Validate PCIe functionality across different generations, platforms, configurations, and operating conditions.
• Develop and execute PCIe validation plans, stress tests, corner-case scenarios, and interoperability tests.
• Develop  automation to improve validation coverage, debug efficiency, and regression testing.

Required Qualifications

• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of engineering experience in silicon validation, post-silicon debug, or high-speed interface development.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of PCIe architecture and protocol.
• Experience working with PCIe analyzers, state traces, registers, logs, eye diagrams, and/or signal-integrity measurements.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to independently drive issues to root cause.
• Experience working across hardware, firmware, and software boundaries.
• Good scripting/programming skills, preferably Python
• Good Linux knowledge and experience with Linux PCIe debug tools.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with PCIe Gen4/Gen5/Gen6/Gen7
• Hands-on experience with PCIe PHY, SerDes, equalization, lane margining, or signal integrity.
• Experience with PCIe compliance and interoperability testing.
• Experience debugging intermittent, marginal, thermal-sensitive, or corner-case PCIe failures.
• Experience with PCIe switches,  or networking/accelerator platforms.
• Practical experience using AI/ML tools for engineering debug and automation.

We 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.