Principal Systems Engineer- Optical Validation

Responsibilities:
MaxLinear is seeking an experienced Principal Systems Engineer to join our Systems team at the Valencia Design Center. In this role, you will lead functional and performance testing for advanced embedded systems, ensuring exceptional quality and performance, with a strong focus on high-speed optical communication system validation. You will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to develop MaxLinear’s next-generation communication infrastructure System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions, validating end-to-end operation from DSP to optical sub-assemblies (TOSA/ROSA) and back.

As a Principal Systems Engineer, you will be responsible for ensuring the robustness and reliability of our communication systems. Key responsibilities include:
Review system specifications and provide feedback to design teams
Analyze functional and performance requirements, ensuring testability for effective test plan design
Design and implement test procedures to validate system requirements and measure performance indicators during Pre-silicon and Post-silicon phases
Validate high-speed optical communication systems, including end-to-end validation of DSP + TOSA (TX path) and ROSA + DSP (RX path), assessing the impact of optical components and channel effects on system performance
Lead bring-up and debug of optical systems and lab platforms, supporting early hardware/software integration and rapid issue isolation across electrical, DSP, firmware, and optical boundaries
Design, assemble, and maintain optical laboratory test benches, including hardware integration, instrumentation, cabling, fixtures, and repeatable measurement setups
Automate system-level test suites using scripting languages (Python) and lab instrumentation APIs, aiming for maximum automation
Develop automated test frameworks using Python and Robot Framework, enabling scalable, repeatable optical validation and continuous regression
Own assigned test specifications and automation tasks, ensuring timely and accurate delivery
Maintain and enhance cloud-based test infrastructure for assigned projects
Collaborate closely with software, firmware, and hardware engineers to align testing with development goals
Execute, analyze, and report system test results, providing actionable insights
Generate performance reports, application notes, and product documentation
Contribute to test strategy development, including quality gates and business/system/product metrics
Track and report defects, verify fixes, and ensure resolution
Drive process improvements by introducing new methodologies, tools, and workflows to boost team efficiency
Qualifications:
Education & Experience
Bachelor’s in Telecommunications or Electronic Engineering with 12+ years of relevant experience, or
Master’s in Telecommunications or Electronic Engineering with 10+ years of relevant experience, or
PhD in Telecommunications or Electronic Engineering with 7+ years of relevant experience
Technical Skills
Strong background in systems testing and system-level validation
Solid knowledge of high-speed communication systems hardware/software and familiarity with high-volume consumer SoC ICs
Good understanding of digital signal processing (DSP) techniques for communications (sampling theory, digital modulations, time-frequency analysis)
Proven experience validating electro-optical / optical communication systems, including DSP interaction with optical sub-assemblies (TOSA/ROSA)
Hands-on experience with laboratory instrumentation; experience with optical and high-speed electrical measurement equipment is highly valued
Advanced Python programming skills and ability to design robust, maintainable automation architectures
Experience building automated validation environments using Robot Framework or similar test automation frameworks
Soft Skills
Fluent in written and spoken English
Strong communication skills for cross-functional collaboration
Highly organized, detail-oriented, and results-driven
Proactive mindset with the ability to work independently at system level
Open to learning new technologies, tools, and programming languages
Preferred Skills
IP networking knowledge
ISTQB Foundation Level Certification or higher
Advanced Linux knowledge
Embedded systems experience
Proficiency with version control tools (e.g., Git)
Experience with CI/CD processes and tools (e.g., Jenkins)
Familiarity with communication technologies (e.g., Ethernet, optical standards)
Participation in standards working groups (ITU, BBF, IEEE, etc.)
Company Overview:
MaxLinear is a global, NASDAQ-traded company (MXL) where the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. We are a fabless system-on-chip product company, striving to improve the world’s communication networks for everyone through our highly integrated radio-frequency (RF), analog, digital, and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions for access and connectivity, wired and wireless infrastructure, and industrial and multi-market applications.

We hire the best people in the industry and engage them in some of the most exciting opportunities that connect the world we live in today. Our growth has come from innovative, bold approaches to solving some of the world’s most challenging communication technology problems in the most efficient and effective manner.

MaxLinear began by developing the world’s first high-performance TV tuner chip using standard CMOS process technology. Others said we couldn’t achieve the extremely high-performance requirements using CMOS, but we proved them wrong and achieved enduring global market leadership with our designs. Since then, we’ve developed a full line of products that drive 4G and 5G infrastructure; enable data center, metro and long-haul optical interconnects; bring 10Gbit to the home; power the IoT revolution; and enable robust and reliable communication in harsh industrial environments. Over the years, we’ve expanded through organic growth and through several acquisitions that have perfectly complemented our existing portfolio and enabled us to deliver complete end-to-end solutions in our target markets. One such example was the acquisition of Intel’s Home Gateway Platform Division that added Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and Broadband Gateway Processor SoC technology to our connected home portfolio creating a complete and scalable platform of connectivity and access solutions to fully address our customers’ needs.

Our headquarters are in Carlsbad, near San Diego, California. We also have major design centers in Irvine and San Jose, California; Valencia, Spain; Bangalore, India; Munich, Germany; Israel; and Singapore.

We have approximately 1,200 employees, a substantial majority of whom have engineering degrees and include masters and Ph.D. graduates from many of the premiere universities around the world. Our employees thrive on innovation, outstanding execution, outside-the-box thinking, nimbleness, and collaboration. Together, we form a high-energy business team that is focused on building the best and most innovative products on the market.