Optical Sub-System Architect – Principal Engineer

Job Details:

Job Description:

The Principal Optical Sub-System Architect will help drive the revolution to photonic interconnect for high performance data centers. The exceptional candidate will understand and help optimize Optical systems bridging between optical capabilities and data center needs. Bandwidth, power, latency, cost trade-offs for optical vs electrical system design including understanding optical packaging, optical thermal issues, connectors, fiber assembly techniques, rack considerations (bend radius), back-plane, front-plane access concerns, manageability and training techniques. Knowledge of LPO vs DWDM and CWDM trade-offs is critical. Candidate should be able to translate customer requirements (latency, power, footprint and BW) to product requirements and system design. As the future is driving toward co-packaged optics, the candidate should have experience and understanding of how co-packaged optics will contribute to the future data center while intersecting with traditional electrical systems and switching networks. Understanding photonic standards as well as networking standards.

Key Responsibilities:
Optical Architecture Leadership
• Define and drive optical subsystem architecture for the next generation data center.
• Design scalable optical hierarchies, including CPUs, GPUs and electrical switches.
• Deep knowledge of Packaging optics and the future issues of co-packaged Optics.
Performance and Efficiency Optimization
• Develop strategies for bandwidth optimization, latency reduction, and power efficiency.
• Analyze trade-offs between capacity, throughput, and cost for hyperscale deployments.
Protocol Design
• Analysis and recommendations on UAL, UEC, SUE, and proprietary protocol mechanisms and standards.
• Technical understanding and analysis capability of PHY components (UCIe, 802.3xx (over SMF and twinax), OIF)
• Ensure consistency and reliability across heterogeneous environments.
Modeling and Simulation
• Build analytic performance models for Optical subsystems and validate through simulation.
• Conduct workload characterization for AI, HPC, and cloud applications.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Work closely with CPU architects, interconnect designers, and software teams to ensure seamless integration.
• Partner with vendors.
Innovation and Research
• Explore emerging optical technologies (uLED and others).
• Drive R-and-D initiatives for future-proof optical solutions in large-scale data centers.
Leadership and Mentorship
• Provide technical guidance to engineers and influence architectural decisions across teams.

Additional Skills:
• Strong leadership and strategic thinking abilities.
• Excellent communication skills for technical and executive audiences.
• Ability to influence architectural decisions across multiple teams

Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 12+ years in subsystem architecture and design for CPUs or SoCs.
• Proven experience with Optical Photonics.
• Deep knowledge of Optical Architecture and standards.
• Familiarity with CXL, PCIe, and interconnect technologies.
• Experience with performance modeling tools and EDA flows.

Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience with hyperscale data center workloads.
• Knowledge of AI/ML memory optimization and heterogeneous compute integration.
• Contributions to optical architecture research or industry standards.

Requirements listed would be obtained through a combination of industry relevant job experience, internship experiences and or schoolwork/classes/research.

Job Type:
Experienced Hire

Shift:
Shift 1 (Israel)

Primary Location:
Israel, Haifa

Additional Locations:

Business group:
At the Data Center Group (DCG), we're committed to delivering exceptional products and delighting our customers. We offer both broad-market Xeon-based solutions and custom x86-based products, ensuring tailored innovation for diverse needs across general-purpose compute, web services, HPC, and AI-accelerated systems. Our charter encompasses defining business strategy and roadmaps, product management, developing ecosystems and business opportunities, delivering strong financial performance, and reinvigorating x86 leadership. Join us as we transform the data center segment through workload driven leadership products and close collaboration with our partners.

Posting Statement:
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance.
Position of Trust
This role is a Position of Trust. Should you accept this position, you must consent to and pass an extended Background Investigation, which includes (subject to country law), extended education, SEC sanctions, and additional criminal and civil checks. For internals, this investigation may or may not be completed prior to starting the position. For additional questions, please contact your Recruiter.

Work Model for this Role

This role will be eligible for our hybrid work model which allows employees to split their time between working on-site at their assigned Intel site and off-site. * Job posting details (such as work model, location or time type) are subject to change.