Principal Silicon Validation Engineer (SerDes/PAM4)

Location: San Jose, California, United States

Salary: $185,000–$240,000 USD base salary per year

Company

hirify.global develops semiconductor-based connectivity solutions and software for rack-scale AI infrastructure, including CXL, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe, and UALink technologies.

What you will do

• Develop comprehensive post-silicon validation plans for complex connectivity ICs and board products.
• Design and execute electrical validation tests to quantify device performance, margins, and parametric compliance.
• Automate IC and board testing with Python-based bench automation and data analysis.
• Lead SoC debugging and investigate unexpected behavior through structured experiments and root-cause analysis.
• Validate high-speed PCIe and PAM4 Ethernet links across short, medium, and long channels.
• Report validation results, specification compliance, and product robustness to internal stakeholders.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field; a Master’s degree is preferred.
• 8+ years of experience supporting or developing complex SoC or silicon products for server, storage, or networking applications.
• Experience with high-speed interfaces such as PCIe 5, PCIe 6, or PAM4 802.3 Ethernet.
• Knowledge of PCIe Base Specification and CEM Specification electrical compliance requirements.
• Working knowledge of PLLs, DFE, Tx EQ, CDR, PAM4, PRBS testing, and high-speed data-link optimization.
• Strong Python scripting, object-oriented programming, Git, bench automation, and experience with BERTs, oscilloscopes, and VNAs.

Nice to have

• Experience with PCIe/CXL compliance standards and electrical compliance testing at industry workshops.
• Hands-on signal-integrity experience, including channel-loss budgeting and de-embedding.
• Knowledge of NRZ and PAM4 signaling and PCIe standards.
• Experience with MATLAB, Keysight ADS, or PLTS for electrical-channel and signal-integrity analysis.

Culture & Benefits

• Customer requirements and product parametric conformance are treated as the highest priorities.
• The role requires independent problem solving, prioritization across multiple tasks, and minimal supervision.
• A professional, open-minded, entrepreneurial, and customer-focused working style is expected.
• Applications are encouraged from candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences.