Principal Hardware Engineer

About the role

Welcome!

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Position Summary

ADTRAN is seeking a Principal Hardware Engineer to provide technical leadership in the development of next-generation Optical Transport and Coherent Pluggable solutions for metro, core, long-haul, and data center interconnect applications.

This role is responsible for the architecture, design, validation, and production support of advanced optical networking products, including coherent transceivers, DWDM systems, and optical transport platforms.

The successful candidate will serve as a subject matter expert and collaborate across optical, electrical, firmware, FPGA, software, mechanical, manufacturing, and systems engineering teams to deliver innovative, high-performance networking solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Lead the hardware architecture and design of coherent pluggable transceivers and optical transport subsystems.
• Drive technical decisions related to high-speed digital, RF, mixed-signal, and optical hardware design.
• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to engineers across multiple product development teams.
• Serve as the primary technical resource for complex engineering challenges and design reviews.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, components, and architectures to support future product roadmaps.

Hardware Design & Development

• Develop system architectures, block diagrams, schematics, and detailed hardware specifications.
• Design and validate high-speed circuit boards supporting coherent optical communication systems.
• Lead signal integrity, power integrity, and electromagnetic compatibility analyses.
• Collaborate with PCB layout engineers to optimize designs for performance, manufacturability, reliability, and cost.
• Oversee hardware integration, verification, qualification, and release activities throughout the product lifecycle.
• Support new product introductions and production transfers to manufacturing partners.

Optical Transport Systems

• Define and evaluate optical subsystem requirements including:
• Coherent pluggable modules
• DWDM transport systems
• Optical amplifiers
• ROADM technologies
• Wavelength-selective switches
• Laser and photodetector-based subsystems
• Perform system-level analysis, performance modeling, and design trade studies.
• Work with suppliers to evaluate and qualify optical components and technologies.

Test & Validation

• Develop test strategies, qualification plans, and validation methodologies.
• Utilize laboratory equipment including:
• Network analyzers
• Spectrum analyzers
• BER testers
• Oscilloscopes
• Optical measurement equipment
• Analyze performance data and lead root-cause investigations.
• Drive corrective actions and continuous product improvements.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Systems, Software, FPGA, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Quality, and Product Management teams.
• Participate in customer, supplier, and executive technical reviews.
• Support field deployments and resolution of complex customer issues when required.
• Ensure projects meet performance, schedule, reliability, and cost objectives.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optical Engineering, or a related discipline required.
• Master's degree preferred.
• Equivalent combination of education and directly related industry experience will be considered in lieu of an advanced degree.

Experience

• 10+ years of hardware engineering experience in telecommunications, networking, or optical communications.
• Significant experience designing high-speed electronic hardware and optical networking systems.
• Proven experience developing coherent optical transceivers, optical transport platforms, or DWDM networking products.
• Demonstrated success leading complex product developments from concept through production release.

Technical Skills

• Expertise in coherent optical communications and pluggable transceiver technologies.
• Strong knowledge of DWDM transport systems and optical networking architectures.
• Experience with high-speed board design, signal integrity, and RF design techniques.
• Proficiency with schematic capture and simulation tools such as Xpedition, HFSS, ADS, HyperLynx, or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of:
• S-parameters
• Impedance matching
• High-speed serial interfaces
• Optical link budgets
• Mixed-signal design
• Experience with laboratory characterization and optical test equipment.
• Knowledge of manufacturing processes, Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Testability (DFT), and product qualification methodologies.

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic thinking and systems-level problem-solving ability.
• Strong communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to influence technical direction across multiple organizations.
• Proven coaching and mentoring capabilities.
• Strong project execution and decision-making skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative engineering environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, or Physics.
• Experience with coherent optical systems and pluggable architectures.
• Experience supporting hyperscale, carrier, or service provider optical networks.
• Familiarity with automation, scripting, and data analysis tools.
• Experience collaborating with global engineering and manufacturing teams.