Jobs / United States / Astera Labs INC
(Sr.) Principal Engineer - Field Applications
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 roles26 certified filings for “Tech Lead Firmware Engineer” (Electronics Engineers, Except Computer) in CA: $157k–$216k, median $165k. Most were filed at wage level II (42%) — 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).
A verdict summarises public evidence; it is not legal advice and never a guarantee — the employer and the immigration authority decide. Sign in to factor in where you can already work.
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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 As a (Sr.) Principal Engineer - Field Applications Engineering, you will serve as a trusted technical partner to customers deploying Astera Labs’ high-speed connectivity solutions. You will lead the continuation of critical customer support for Ethernet and PCIe products, translating system requirements into reliable, production-ready designs and accelerating issue resolution across complex AI infrastructure platforms. Based onsite in San Jose, you will work closely with customers and cross-functional teams across sales, product management, design engineering, validation, and operations. Your expertise in high-speed interfaces, physical-layer behavior, and system-level integration will help customers bring next-generation rack-scale AI architectures to market with confidence. Key Responsibilities • Customer Technical Leadership • Lead technical engagements with strategic customers from architecture definition through deployment and production support. • Own customer escalations, establish clear action plans, and drive issues to timely closure with measurable outcomes. • Present design recommendations, bring-up results, and technical tradeoffs to customer engineering and leadership teams. • Ethernet and PCIe Product Support • Develop and execute system-level debug plans for Ethernet and PCIe connectivity issues, including link training, interoperability, compliance, and performance. • Analyze physical-layer behavior, signal-integrity symptoms, error logs, lab data, and system telemetry to isolate root causes. • Partner with engineering teams to reproduce field issues, influence product improvements, and communicate effective workarounds or corrective actions. • Cross-Functional Enablement • Collaborate with sales and product management to capture customer requirements and shape application strategies for emerging AI infrastructure designs. • Create technical collateral, reference architectures, application notes, and enablement materials for customers and internal teams. • Mentor Field Applications Engineers and contribute to scalable processes for customer onboarding, issue tracking, and product adoption. Basic Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field. • 8–20 years of experience in field applications engineering, system engineering, product engineering, or a related domain. • Deep hands-on experience with Ethernet and/or PCIe systems, high-speed SerDes, link training, interoperability, and compliance. • Strong understanding of physical-layer concepts, signal integrity, board-level bring-up, lab instrumentation, and system-level debug. • Demonstrated ability to lead complex customer escalations, debug, and communicate technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences. • Ability to work onsite in San Jose and travel to customer and partner locations as needed. Preferred Qualifications • Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a relat