Serdes Characterization & Post-Silicon Validation Engineer

Seattle, WA

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.

We are looking for a hands-on Ser Des Characterization & Post-Silicon Validation Engineer to bring up, characterize, and validate high-speed Ser Des interfaces in complex SoCs.

You will work closely with Ser Des/IP, mixed-signal, digital, firmware, SI/PI, package, board, and systems teams to take high-speed interfaces from first silicon through product integration and system-level operation. You will also help build our high-speed test and validation capability from the ground up.

• Lead post-silicon bring-up and characterization of high-speed NRZ and PAM4 Ser Des, including 112G-class interfaces.
• Develop and execute electrical characterization plans across lanes, data rates, voltage, temperature, channels, and operating conditions.
• Characterize TX eye quality, jitter, output amplitude, linearity, equalization, RX sensitivity, BER, bathtub curves, CDR performance, and link margin.
• Validate TX/RX equalization including FFE, CTLE, DFE, adaptation, and link-training behavior.
• Perform BER and stress testing across representative and worst-case channels.
• Debug complex link issues spanning Ser Des IP, clocks, power, package, PCB/channel, firmware, and digital logic.
• Correlate silicon measurements with Ser Des models, simulations, and channel/SI analysis.
• Partner with firmware and digital teams on Ser Des configuration, initialization, diagnostics, adaptation, and system-level link bring-up.
• Develop automated characterization and regression environments for instrument control, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Support the transition from chip-level Ser Des characterization to product integration and system-level validation.
• Contribute to building the high-speed validation lab, equipment, test infrastructure, measurement methodology, and automation from the ground up.

• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of high-speed Ser Des characterization, post-silicon validation, signal integrity, or related experience.
• Strong understanding of high-speed serial-link fundamentals, including NRZ/PAM4 signaling, equalization, CDR, jitter, BER, channel loss, and link budgets.
• Deep hands-on experience with high-bandwidth oscilloscopes, BERTs, pattern generators, VNAs, TDR/TDT, and high-speed electrical measurement equipment.
• Experience with eye diagrams, jitter decomposition, bathtub curves, BER testing,…