Engineer III

Role Purpose

Systems Engineer, Co-Packaged Optics is responsible for working directly with our customers and ecosystem partners to understand their product challenges, create system-level solutions, translate those solutions into product requirements, and drive design-in of Corning's Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) products. The role combines deep technical expertise in semiconductor manufacturing and photonic connectivity with a strong customer-facing orientation, serving as the technical interface between Corning R&D, program management and the business team to shape the future of AI infrastructure in hyperscale data centers.

This is a highly visible role that combines deep systems expertise with strong communication skills to guide our customers from early architecture discussions through design-in and qualification to serial production, bridging internal engineering teams and our customers to solve deployment challenges and influencing the CPO roadmap based on direct customer insight.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a primary technical point of contact for strategic customers and ecosystem partners throughout the CPO product lifecycle - from early architecture discussions through design-in, qualification, and deployment
• Lead product and system ideation with our customers and partners, with the goal of addressing identified needs through differentiated product offerings
• Translate customer requirements into internal product specifications, ensuring alignment between external needs and Corning's R&D and product development capabilities.
• Conduct feasibility studies and develop initial design concepts to be transferred to R&D
• Establish ongoing and trusting relationships with technical counterparts amongst our primary customers and partners within the CPO ecosystem.
• Develop a deep understanding of customer applications, the systems in which they operate, and how Corning products function in these applications.
• Lead technical deep-dive sessions, architecture workshops, and design reviews with customer engineering teams, including hyperscaler network architects and ASIC/platform engineers.
• Perform system level thermo-mechanical simulations to provide design recommendations
• Deliver compelling technical presentations, demos, and proof-of-concept (PoC) engagements
• Participate in mapping out market trends and technology roadmaps, identifying key gaps and recommendations in terms of both technology capabilities and new products.
• In close collaboration with PLM and Marketing, help refine Corning's value proposition in the context of a deep understanding of the applications and use cases of our CPO solutions

Experiences/Education - Required

• • Master's or Doctorate Degree in Physics, Electrical, Optical or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent fields.
  • 7+ years of experience in an applications, systems, or product development function, with meaningful time in a customer-facing technical role (Systems Engineer, Applications Engineer, Scientist, or Solutions Architect).
  • Participation in complex projects and contribution to multi-functional teams in a fast-paced competitive environment.

Required Skills

• Deep understanding of one or more of the following: optics, glass as a material, optical fiber and communications, Silicon Photonics, semiconductor packaging, semiconductor metrology, electronic hardware design and manufacturing.
• Ease with frequent customer engagements at a technical level, with the ability to comprehend technical needs and convey effective value propositions.

• • Ability to collaborate across functional and geographical boundaries to solve problems and develop solutions.
  • Conceptualize complex specification and application requirements and articulate to internal/external stakeholders to initiate new product development or implement product changes.

• Mobilize and influence people within and outside the organization to meet objectives.
• Garner trust and lead collaborative work efforts, both internally and externally, across multiple time zones.

Experiences/Education - Desired

• Work experience in PLM, Manufacturing, Systems Engineering, and/or Product Development in a fast-paced OEM context.
• +3 years of industrial experience.
• Systems-level knowledge of CPO architectures, including photonic engines, external laser sources (ELS/ELSFP), fiber attach, ASIC integration and advanced packaging.
• Direct experience deploying CPO, NPO, LPO, or advanced pluggable optics in production or pre-production environments.
• Familiarity with AI/ML fabric architectures (scale-up / scale-out), including GPU/XPU cluster designs and optical I/O requirements.
• Fluent English, verbally and written.