Job Overview

TE Connectivity is seeking a highly experienced Lead Sales Development Engineer to drive strategic engagement across the Semiconductor and AI Ecosystem. This individual will work directly with many of the world's leading semiconductor, accelerator, networking, and AI infrastructure companies to identify emerging technology needs and drive co-innovation around next-generation interconnect solutions.

The successful candidate will serve as a trusted technical advisor to customers and a key bridge between customer engineering teams and TE's product management, engineering, and business leadership organizations. The role requires a strong combination of technical depth, consultative selling skills, industry relationships, and program leadership.

This position focuses on shaping future architectures and driving strategic design wins across high-growth interconnect domains including:

• High-performance CPU and accelerator sockets
• High-speed board-to-board and backplane connector systems
• Copper and optical data center interconnects
• Passive and active cable assemblies
• Emerging power, rack, and system-level connectivity solutions

The ideal candidate will possess deep technical expertise, a strong understanding of semiconductor and AI infrastructure trends, and a proven track record of influencing customer roadmaps and driving complex business opportunities from concept through production.

Job Requirements

Strategic Customer Engagement

• Develop executive and engineering relationships within leading semiconductor, AI accelerator, networking, and cloud infrastructure companies.
• Serve as a trusted advisor capable of engaging across architecture, system, mechanical, and electrical engineering teams.
• Understand customer technology roadmaps, product strategies, and future platform requirements.
• Identify opportunities for strategic co-development and ecosystem collaboration.

Technical Sales Leadership

• Lead technical customer engagements from early concept discussions through production adoption.
• Translate customer requirements into actionable product, technology, and investment recommendations.
• Influence platform architectures through strong technical consultation and thought leadership.
• Deliver compelling technical presentations, design reviews, and executive briefings.

Customer Requirement Development

• Drive Voice of Customer (VoC) activities to identify unmet market needs and emerging trends.
• Define system-level requirements related to signal integrity, mechanical integration, power delivery, manufacturability, reliability, and scalability.
• Partner with product management and engineering teams to develop differentiated solutions aligned with customer needs.

Cross-Functional Program Leadership

• Lead complex ecosystem programs spanning multiple customers, product groups, and engineering disciplines.
• Coordinate efforts between sales, engineering, product management, operations, and executive leadership.
• Drive alignment around strategic opportunities, design wins, and technology investments.
• Ensure key customer initiatives maintain visibility and receive appropriate organizational support.

Market & Technology Leadership

• Maintain deep awareness of industry trends including:
• AI compute infrastructure
• Semiconductor packaging
• Server and accelerator architectures
• High-speed signaling roadmaps (224G, 448G and beyond)
• Optical connectivity
• Rack-scale and system-level architectures
• Provide regular market intelligence and competitive insights to internal stakeholders.
• Influence TE's long-term technology and product strategies through direct customer engagement.

What your background should look like

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in technical sales, field applications engineering, product management, systems engineering, or business development within the semiconductor, data center, networking, or interconnect industries.
• Proven experience building trusted technical relationships with engineering and executive stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success leading complex customer programs from concept through production.
• Strong understanding of semiconductor and AI ecosystem players, business models, and technology roadmaps.
• Excellent presentation, communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to influence without direct authority and lead through cross-functional collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working directly with leading semiconductor, accelerator, networking, hyperscale, or cloud infrastructure companies.
• Deep knowledge of interconnect technologies including:
• High-speed board-to-board and wire-to-board connectors
• CPU and accelerator sockets
• Active electrical and optical cable solutions
• Copper and optical cable assemblies
• Backplane and orthogonal connector architectures
• Strong understanding of:
• Signal Integrity (SI)
• Power Integrity (PI)
• Mechanical design and tolerance analysis
• Thermal considerations
• Data center and rack architectures
• Experience influencing industry standards, ecosystem initiatives, or joint technology development programs.

What Success Looks Like

• Establishes TE as a trusted innovation partner across key semiconductor and AI ecosystem accounts.
• Drives strategic design wins and ecosystem adoption of TE technologies.
• Identifies emerging customer requirements before formal programs are launched.
• Shapes future product roadmaps through direct customer insight and market intelligence.
• Leads high-impact cross-functional initiatives that result in significant long-term revenue growth and market share expansion.
• Builds enduring customer relationships that position TE at the center of next-generation AI and compute platforms.

Competencies