Optical Engineer - Memphis
xAI, Southaven, MS +1
What you will do
- Own end-to-end optical and fiber design for AI training and inference fabrics: fiber cabling, cassette/panel architecture, polarity, breakout, reach, and connector strategy (MPO-12/16, SN, MDC, LC, OSFP / QSFP-DD)
- Write and verify link budgets for scale-out and scale-up interconnect (SMF/MMF, AOC/DAC, DR/FR/LR, InfiniBand and Ethernet), including loss, reflections, FEC, and realistic install margins
- Develop and implement factory tests for optical interconnects including insertion loss, return loss, and polarization
- Select and qualify optics, fiber, and connectivity (transceivers, patch, trunks, cassettes, harnesses); own vendor bring-up, failure analysis, and fleet reliability of the optical layer
- Deploy and verify end-to-end optical interconnect into the manufacturing line
- Lead commissioning and debug: inspect/clean, power meter, OTDR, BER/FEC stats, and volume failure modes (dirty connectors, wrong polarity, wrong map, damaged end-face)
- Evolve connectivity toward the next speed and density (800G / 1.6T, CPO/NPO awareness, tighter reaches, higher fiber count per rack)