Engineer III

Requisition Number: 78725

The company built on breakthroughs. ​  
Join us.​          

Corning is one of the world’s leading innovators in glass, ceramic, and materials science. From the depths of the ocean to the farthest reaches of space, our technologies push the boundaries of what’s possible.  ​  

How do we do this? With our people. They break through limitations and expectations – not once in a career, but every day. They help move our company, and the world, forward. ​  

​At Corning, there are endless possibilities for making an impact. You can help connect the unconnected, drive the future of automobiles, transform at-home entertainment, and ensure the delivery of lifesaving medicines. And so much more.​   

​ Come break through with us.  

Corning’s businesses are ever-evolving to best serve our customers, industries, and consumers. Today, we accelerate and transform life sciences, mobile consumer electronics, optical communications, display, automotive, and solar markets. We are changing the world with: 

• Trusted products that accelerate drug discovery, development, and delivery to save lives
• Damage-resistant cover glass to enhance the devices that keep us connected
• Optical fiber, wireless technologies, and connectivity solutions to carry information and ideas at the speed of light
• Precision glass for advanced displays to deliver richer experiences 
• Auto glass and ceramics to drive cleaner, safer, and smarter transportation 
• Solar polysilicon, wafers, and innovative photovoltaic modules, enabling low-cost solar energy solutions

Overview

Corning is seeking a Systems Engineer to partner closely with customers and ecosystem collaborators to understand product challenges, develop system-level solutions, translate those solutions into product requirements, and support the design-in of Corning’s Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) portfolio.

This role combines strong technical expertise in mechanical engineering of optical management systems and photonic connectivity with a customer-focused mindset. As a key technical interface across technology, manufacturing and business teams, the Systems Engineer will help shape the future of AI infrastructure in hyperscale data centers.

This is a highly visible role that requires systems-level thinking, technical credibility, and strong communication skills. The individual will guide customers from early architecture discussions through design-in, qualification, and serial production, while helping bridge internal engineering teams and external stakeholders to solve deployment challenges and inform Corning’s CPO roadmap.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the 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 customers and partners to address identified needs through differentiated product offerings.
• Translate customer requirements into internal product specifications, ensuring alignment with Corning’s R&D and product development capabilities.
• Conduct feasibility studies and develop initial design concepts for transfer to R&D.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with technical counterparts across the CPO ecosystem.
• Develop a strong understanding of customer applications, the systems in which they operate, and the role of Corning solutions within those environments.
• Lead technical deep-dive sessions, architecture workshops, and design reviews with customer engineering teams, including hyperscaler network architects and ASIC/platform engineers.
• Collaborate with ASIC partners, packaging houses, laser vendors, connector suppliers, and hardware providers to build understanding of next-generation requirements.
• Serve as the voice of the customer within Corning, driving clarity of requirements, feature prioritization, and responsiveness to field feedback.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Engineering, Applied Science, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in applications, systems, or product development, including meaningful time in a customer-facing technical role such as Systems Engineer, Applications Engineer, Scientist, or Solutions Architect.
• Experience in mechanical design engineering preferably in optical management system solutions
• Experience contributing to complex projects and working on cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, competitive environment.
• Deep understanding of one or more of the following:
• Optical fiber, connectivity and communications
• Semiconductor manufacturing, metrology
• Electronic hardware design and manufacturing
• Datacenter networks
• Ability to engage frequently with customers at a technical level, understand needs, and communicate effective value propositions.
• Ability to collaborate across functions and geographies to solve problems and develop solutions.
• Ability to translate complex specifications and application requirements for internal and external stakeholders to support new product development or product changes.
• Ability to influence and mobilize stakeholders within and outside the organization to meet objectives.
• Ability to build trust and lead collaborative efforts across internal and external teams, including across multiple time zones.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in Systems Engineering, Manufacturing and/or Product Development in a fast-paced OEM environment.
• 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, including scale-up and scale-out designs, GPU/XPU cluster architectures, and optical I/O requirements.