Staff Optical System Architect

Job Overview

Data communications applications change at an exponential pace and TE Connectivity’s Digital Data Networks Business Unit (DDN BU) is at the heart of a continuously expanding connected life. We provide responsive, iterative, and fundamentally agile capabilities to support today's demands. Our customers are building the devices and the infrastructure that is redefining what information technology means. Our products drive market innovation and meet the ever-changing needs of an increasingly connected, data-driven world. We are enhancing the way we do business, focusing on the most important things and staying agile and responsive to the needs of a faster, more connected world

As the R&D Product Development Engineer – Optical System Architect (SA), you will drive the next generation of Technology innovations in the Optical connectivity area. You will be focused on pluggable optical transceivers, near/co-package optical transceivers, optical interconnects for advanced AI/HPC environment, compute, storage, and networking hardware markets. 

You will apply your technical expertise and industry knowledge to influence the BU strategy and contribute to key product/technology decisions. You will collaborate closely with the Business Development and Strategy teams on M&A scenarios and projects, performing technical evaluations and assessing how the technology will intersect with future product/technology trends and the needs of our customers and industry. This role reports to the Director, leading the broader SA organization. 

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Customer Engagement

• Serve as the primary technical liaison for TE’s customers, actively engaging with hyperscalers, OEMs, and system architects to gain deep insights into next-generation compute, AI, storage, and networking challenges.
• Proactively identify and assess technology disruptors, translating emerging trends into strategic R&D initiatives and product development roadmaps to maintain TE’s industry leadership.
• Cultivate and strengthen customer partnerships, fostering co-development opportunities and collaborative innovation to accelerate next-gen infrastructure advancements.
• Drive thought leadership by educating and influencing internal and external stakeholders, from executives and product teams to key decision-makers in customer organizations, on emerging industry trends, TE’s technical capabilities, and high-value engineering solutions.
• Bridge the gap between customer needs and TE’s technology roadmap, ensuring TE delivers future-proof, scalable, and high-performance interconnect solutions tailored to the evolving data infrastructure landscape.

System-Level Architecture & Product Strategy

• Define high-level system architecture requirements, ensuring TE’s product roadmap is aligned with next-generation compute, AI, and networking ecosystems.
• Drive TE’s technology vision and strategy, ensuring our interconnect solutions support the evolving needs of standards like PCIe, CXL, Ethernet, InfiniBand, and the next-gen AI workloads.
• Lead the evaluation of high-speed electrical, optical, and hybrid interconnect solutions, balancing performance, power, latency, cost, and manufacturability.
• Collaborate with internal R&D, product development, and business units to shape product development roadmaps based on real-world customer challenges and market trends.
• Drive technical due diligence for potential partnerships, acquisitions, and ecosystem collaborations, ensuring TE stays at the forefront of innovation.

Standards Development & Industry Influence

• Actively participate in and influence key industry standards groups (e.g., OCP, PCI-SIG, IEEE, Ethernet Alliance, CXL Consortium), ensuring TE’s strategic alignment with the future of data communication.
• Lead and influence discussions on emerging protocols and interface standards, ensuring TE is at the forefront of next-generation high-speed, low-latency interconnect technologies.
• Champion TE’s technical leadership by actively contributing to the development of next-gen copper and optical interconnect standards, positioning TE as an industry innovator, ensuring our solutions stay ahead of the competition
• Represent TE at industry forums, conferences, and standards organizations, reinforcing our role as a leader in high-speed interconnect technology and ensuring our strategic perspectives drive industry advancements.
• Develop and present thought leadership content, including technical whitepapers, reference designs, keynote presentations, and industry presentations, to amplify TE’s influence within the standards community and the broader industry ecosystem

Cross-Functional Leadership & Execution

• Work cross-functionally with engineering, product management, sales, and marketing teams to translate technical insights into compelling product offerings.
• Drive the execution of high-impact, innovative technical projects, ensuring seamless alignment between customer needs, business goals, and engineering capabilities.
• Guide TE’s go-to-market strategy for new interconnect solutions, ensuring that our technical differentiation is clearly communicated and leveraged in competitive landscapes.

What your background should look like

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Physics with 8+ years’ experience in the optical design. 
• Technical expertise in high-speed optical engineering and design.
• Knowledge of compute, networking, AI / ML, and storage architectures.
• Experience in data center compute and/or networking industry system design and related technologies.
• Hands-on experience in the design and testing of optical transceivers and optical components.  Silicon Photonics background is HIGHLY desired.
• Effectively able to build relationships with external customers and industry leaders as well as internally across all levels, disciplines, and geographies.
• Strategic minded with a proven ability to translate industry and technical trends into meaningful strategies for the business.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills. A convincing communicator with compelling perspectives that drive engagement and excitement both up and down the organization, with an ability to clearly communicate technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Demonstrates sound judgment in working through complex technical issues with an ability to communicate actions and impact clearly to stakeholders, including management, customers, and the technical community.
• Ability to spend 25%-50% of your time traveling domestically and internationally.

Competencies