Jobs / United States / Astera Labs INC
Senior Embedded Software Engineer - Ethernet Retimers
Astera Labs INC · 🇺🇸 San Jose, California, United States
Sponsorship verdict
Sponsorship possible
One solid signal, not two — worth applying, and worth asking about sponsorship early.
- Employer is on a government sponsor recordThe US Department of Labor certified 63 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 10 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
- The posting doesn’t mention sponsorshipSilence isn’t a refusal — ask the recruiter before investing much time.
- No salary bar for this routeH-1B has no fixed salary bar: the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and area. Cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b, rules effective 2026-02-27.
- What Astera Labs INC paid sponsored hires in similar roles2 certified filings for “Principal Systems Validation Engineer” (Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers) in CA: $166k–$225k, median $196k. Most were filed at wage level II (50%) — 2 lottery entries, ≈31% projected selection odds for cap-subject employers. Source: US Department of Labor LCA disclosure data (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026).
- Confirmed live todayWhen a source last listed this job as open.
US H-1B: cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level — Level I gets 1 entry, Level IV gets 4 (DHS projected selection odds ≈15% at Level I to ≈61% at Level IV). Universities and non-profit research employers are cap-exempt. The $100,000 fee for new petitions from abroad is currently blocked by a court order (appeal pending).
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Sponsor Radar — Astera Labs INC
The US Department of Labor certified 63 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 10 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
Past sponsorship or register membership never guarantees sponsorship for this vacancy or for you. Full Sponsor Radar for Astera Labs INC →
About the role
Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at www.asteralabs.com . Role Overview Astera Labs' Taurus product line includes Ethernet retimers and gearboxes deployed in active electrical cables and in-system applications at the heart of AI infrastructure. As AI clusters scale to tens of thousands of GPUs connected by high-speed Ethernet fabrics, the firmware running on these connectivity devices is mission-critical — and so is the ability to debug it fast when something breaks. We're looking for a Firmware Engineer who can bridge our system validation team and firmware development organization. When something goes wrong in the lab or in the field, you won't be waiting on others to dig into the firmware. You'll be the person in the room who understands both sides — can pull up the code, identify the problem, and fix it. If you've worked at a networking company, know how Ethernet actually works from the MAC down through the PHY, have debugged real link failures, and have written or modified firmware or low-level drivers, this role was designed for you. Your primary focus will be debug and system integration. You will be an integral part of the firmware team and work on new feature development, but you will be the point person in the lab helping to unblock other teams — triaging failures, understanding what the firmware is doing, and making targeted fixes without requiring a long handoff loop. Beyond that, you'll contribute to feature development and help bring new products from initial bringup into customer deployment. Key Responsibilities • Debug & System Integration • Work directly with the system validation team to debug firmware behavior across different Ethernet configurations, link states, and failure modes • Investigate and fix firmware issues in embedded C, leveraging deep understanding of how Layer 1 PHY, SERDES, FEC/PCS, MAC, and retimer components interact • Serve as the connective tissue between firmware and system validation teams, triaging issues and driving them to resolution without long handoff loops • Customer Bring-Up & Field Support • Support customer bring-up and integration activities, including triaging field issues and coordinating fixes with internal teams • Partner with field applications engineers to diagnose and resolve deployment issues quickly • Firmware Feature Development • Contribute to firmware feature development for SERDES configuration, link training, equalization, and diagnostics • Partner with SoC, field applications, and platform teams across the full product lifecycle • Help bring new Taurus products from initial silicon bringup through customer deployment Basic Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field • 5+ years of experience in firmware development or embedded systems engineering • Hands-on experience with Ethernet at the system or device level: Layer 1 PHY, SERDES, retimers, gearboxes, NICs, switches, or related devices • Solid embedded C/C++ skills and comfort working in a firmware codebase on