Hardware Validation Engineer (SerDes/Optics/Electrical) (Onsite)

The application window is expected to close on: 04/24/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received. This position requires that you live within commuting distance of our San Jose, CA office and commute to the office 5 days per week. MEET THE TEAM Cisco Hardware Engineers work on next-generation technologies to design and deliver industry-leading hardware products, with a strong focus on user experience, IEEE standards, and industry guidelines. The Hardware Engineering Assurance team plays a critical role in delivering world-class hardware platforms by ensuring the highest levels of quality, reliability, and performance. The team is responsible for comprehensive system level validation of hardware components and associated software, using a multi-stage validation process to ensure each phase of development meets Cisco’s thorough quality standards prior to production release. By joining this team, you will directly influence the end-user experience through detailed validation of hardware platform behavior, working alongside highly collaborative and innovative engineers committed to technical excellence and continuous improvement. If you are passionate about quality engineering and motivated to make a measurable impact on modern hardware solutions that power Cisco’s global network infrastructure, we encourage you to apply. YOUR IMPACT You will be a key contributor to both new product development and sustaining engineering, ensuring robust, high-quality optical interface solutions across multiple Cisco hardware platforms. Define and implement platform host test procedures, including design characterization and qualification of high-speed host interfaces. Validate high-speed host and optical interfaces from 1 Gbps to 224 Gbps per lane across DAC, multimode, and single-mode solutions. Drive validation efforts for emerging optical technologies including CPO, LPO, and LRO, contributing to next-generation system development. Review engineering specifications and translate product requirements into comprehensive test strategies and methodologies. Integrate new test equipment and build scalable test systems, environments, and automation frameworks. Leverage automation and scripting to implement test strategies, improve coverage, and increase validation efficiency. Implement compliance testing against Cisco internal specifications and industry standards. Perform detailed issue analysis, provide mitigation strategies, and drive issues to closure across multi-functional teams. Develop and maintain test plans, procedures, and detailed test reports. Support field issue root-cause analysis and assist with customer issues. Collaborate closely with system architects, signal integrity engineers, software/diagnostics teams, customer support engineers, and external vendors to ensure robust validation methodology, timely issue resolution, and high product quality. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering or a related technical field, with 6+ years of relevant experience, or Master’s degree with 4+ years of experience. Hands on experience with electrical and/or optical test & measurement equipment, through professional work and/or advanced coursework, such as: Signal Analysis and Testing Instruments: High-speed oscilloscopes with CDR, BERT (Bit Error Rate Tester) and Network analyzers Optical Spectrum Analyzer (OSA) Traffic and Noise Simulation Devices to include Noise and Traffic generators PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS Experience with high-speed SERDES systems and/or signal integrity. Solid understanding of optical transceiver theory, functional blocks, and industry form factors (SFP, QSFP, OSFP, QSFP-DD, etc.). Experience with optical signal measurements and characterization techniques. Working experience of relevant standards and specifications such as IEEE 802.3, OIF/CEI, MSAs, and SFF-8431. Shown problem solving and diagnosti ... (truncated, view full listing at source)