Design Validation & Test Engineer

About The Role

Celero is seeking an experienced Principal Design Validation & Test (DVT) Engineer to lead post-silicon validation for next-generation coherent DSP ASICs powering AI and hyperscale optical networking. As a key member of our engineering team, you will play a critical role in enabling first silicon, driving silicon characterization, and ensuring product readiness for customer deployment and high-volume production.

This is a highly visible technical leadership role within a fast-paced startup where you will work closely with Architecture, RTL Design, Firmware, Systems, Product Engineering, and customers to solve complex silicon challenges. You will have the opportunity to influence validation strategy, define best practices, and help build our validation infrastructure from the ground up.

What You'll Do

• Lead post-silicon validation and characterization of complex ASICs and SoCs from first silicon through production release.
• Develop comprehensive validation plans covering functionality, performance, interoperability, compliance, stress testing, corner cases, and reliability.
• Enable first silicon bring-up using JTAG, scan, embedded debug features, and board-level diagnostics.
• Validate high-speed interfaces including PCIe, Ethernet, SerDes, CXL, SPI, I²C, MDIO, and other industry-standard protocols.
• Utilize advanced lab equipment including high-bandwidth oscilloscopes, BERTs, protocol analyzers, Ethernet traffic generators, network analyzers, logic analyzers, and power measurement equipment.
• Debug complex hardware, firmware, RTL, and system-level issues while working closely with cross-functional engineering teams to identify root cause and drive timely resolution.
• Develop scalable Python-based automation frameworks for test execution, regression, silicon characterization, data analysis, and reporting.
• Validate firmware, bootloaders, device drivers, and hardware/software interfaces across multiple platforms.
• Characterize silicon performance, power, thermal behavior, margins, and compliance against architectural specifications.
• Lead debug reviews and provide technical direction for validation methodology, infrastructure, and best practices.
• Support early customer engagements by reproducing and resolving system-level issues and collaborating with applications engineering.
• Document validation results, silicon characterization data, debug findings, and production readiness reports.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.