Job Title
Reliability Engineer / Reliability Engineering Manager
Job Description
We are seeking a Reliability Engineer to lead the qualification of optical engines used in our transceiver products. This role sits at the intersection of optics and semiconductor reliability, requiring someone who can build a qualification plan from the ground up, execute it rigorously, and drive it through to product release. You will own the reliability strategy for a critical subsystem - the optical engine - that combines optical components (lasers, photodetectors) with ASIC which includes driver and receiver circuits into a single functional block.
Responsibilities
- Own the qualification plan end-to-end: Design, document, and execute a comprehensive reliability qualification plan for optical engines designed for transceiver end products, aligned with industry standards (e.g., Telcordia GR-468, JEDEC JESD47/JESD22) and customer-specific requirements.
- Define test matrices: Determine appropriate stress tests (temperature cycling, high-temperature operating life (HTOL), damp heat, mechanical shock/vibration, ESD, moisture sensitivity, etc.) and sample sizes based on failure mode analysis and statistical confidence targets.
- Bridge optics and IC domains: Evaluate reliability risks across the full optical engine - from laser/LED/PD degradation mechanisms to driver IC, TIA, and CDR reliability - and identify interaction effects between optical and electrical subsystems.
- Drive execution: Coordinate with test labs (internal or external), manage sample builds, track test progress, and ensure qualification milestones are met on schedule.
- Failure analysis: Lead root cause investigation for reliability failures, working cross-functionally with design, process, and FA teams to implement corrective actions.
- Data analysis & reporting: Analyze reliability data (Weibull, Arrhenius modeling, activation energy extraction) to project field lifetime and failure rates (FIT rates); prepare qualification reports for internal stakeholders and customers.
- Continuous improvement: Feed lessons learned from qualification and field returns back into design and process guidelines to improve future optical engine reliability.
- Cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with optical design, ASIC/IC design, packaging, manufacturing, and product/program management teams throughout the product lifecycle.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, or related fields.
- 5+ years of experience in reliability engineering, with demonstrated experience across both optical components and integrated circuits.
- Hands-on experience building and executing qualification plans for optoelectronic or semiconductor products (transceivers, optical modules, or similar).
- Working knowledge of industry reliability standards (Telcordia GR-468-CORE, JEDEC, MIL-STD-883, AEC-Q100, or similar).
- Experience with reliability statistics: Weibull analysis, Arrhenius/activation energy modeling, accelerated life testing, FIT rate calculation.
- Strong failure analysis skills (or close collaboration experience with FA teams) - familiarity with tools/techniques such as decapsulation, SEM, EDX, curve tracing, etc.
- Excellent cross-functional communication skills; ability to translate technical risk into clear qualification decisions for engineering and customer audiences.
Additional preferred qualifications
- Direct experience with laser diode, LED, and photodetector reliability - degradation mechanisms (e.g., dark line defects, facet degradation, catastrophic optical damage, dark current drift).
- Experience qualifying transceiver modules (e.g., SFP, QSFP, OSFP form factors) or optical engines/TOSA-ROSA assemblies.
- Familiarity with driver IC, TIA, and CDR reliability considerations in a co-packaged or closely integrated optical-electrical system.
- Experience working with customers on qualification sign-off, including generating and defending qualification reports.
- Six Sigma, CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer), or equivalent certification.