Principal System Architect (#, PA, US, _)

Job Overview

Data communications applications change at an exponential pace and the Data and Devices Business Unit is at the heart of a continuously expanding connected life. Accordingly, we provide responsive, iterative and fundamentally agile capabilities to support today's demands. Our customers are building the devices and the infrastructure that is redefining what information technology means. Our products push markets and meet the ever-changing need of the evolving, more connected, data-driven world. We are enhancing the way we do business, focusing on the most important things and staying agile and responsive to the needs of a faster, more connected world.

Are you a self-starter, an influencer and have a passion for evolving high-speed data communication technology? At TE Connectivity, you will find a culture that rewards such hands-on engineering spirit. We empower our engineers to work collaboratively supporting our customer’s next generation of high-speed data communication products. This is a great opportunity to join our team that is seeking a like-minded person to develop relationships with key technology individuals at customers to understand technology pain points and direction.

As a system architect in our Data & Devices Business Unit, this individual will be focused on the compute, storage, artificial intelligence, and networking industry. You will interface with customers in order to understand how their systems function and determine their evolving technology needs. The System Architect is responsible for generating the high-level system architecture requirements and ensuring the TE technology and product roadmaps are in line with customer next-generation product needs. This person is required to follow and help drive strategy both internally and externally at key industry communication standards.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Customer Engagement

• Serve as the primary technical liaison for TE’s customers, actively engaging with hyperscalers, OEMs, and system architects to gain deep insights into next-generation compute, AI, storage, and networking challenges.
• Proactively identify and assess technology disruptors, translating emerging trends into strategic R&D initiatives and product development roadmaps to maintain TE’s industry leadership.
• Cultivate and strengthen customer partnerships, fostering co-development opportunities and collaborative innovation to accelerate next-gen infrastructure advancements.
• Drive thought leadership by educating and influencing internal and external stakeholders, from executives and product teams to key decision-makers in customer organizations, on emerging industry trends, TE’s technical capabilities, and high-value engineering solutions.
• Bridge the gap between customer needs and TE’s technology roadmap, ensuring TE delivers future-proof, scalable, and high-performance interconnect solutions tailored to the evolving data infrastructure landscape.

System-Level Architecture & Product Strategy

• Define high-level system architecture requirements, ensuring TE’s product roadmap is aligned with next-generation compute, AI, and networking ecosystems.
• Drive TE’s technology vision and strategy, ensuring our interconnect solutions support the evolving needs of standards like PCIe, CXL, Ethernet, InfiniBand, and the next-gen AI workloads.
• Lead the evaluation of high-speed electrical, optical, and hybrid interconnect solutions, balancing performance, power, latency, cost, and manufacturability.
• Collaborate with internal R&D, product development, and business units to shape product development roadmaps based on real-world customer challenges and market trends.
• Drive technical due diligence for potential partnerships, acquisitions, and ecosystem collaborations, ensuring TE stays at the forefront of innovation.

Standards Development & Industry Influence

• Actively participate in and influence key industry standards groups (e.g., OCP, PCI-SIG, IEEE, Ethernet Alliance, CXL Consortium), ensuring TE’s strategic alignment with the future of data communication.
• Lead and influence discussions on emerging protocols and interface standards, ensuring TE is at the forefront of next-generation high-speed, low-latency interconnect technologies.
• Champion TE’s technical leadership by actively contributing to the development of next-gen copper and optical interconnect standards, positioning TE as an industry innovator, ensuring our solutions stay ahead of the competition
• Represent TE at industry forums, conferences, and standards organizations, reinforcing our role as a leader in high-speed interconnect technology and ensuring our strategic perspectives drive industry advancements.
• Develop and present thought leadership content, including technical whitepapers, reference designs, keynote presentations, and industry presentations, to amplify TE’s influence within the standards community and the broader industry ecosystem.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Execution

• Work cross-functionally with engineering, product management, sales, and marketing teams to translate technical insights into compelling product offerings.
• Drive the execution of high-impact, innovative technical projects, ensuring seamless alignment between customer needs, business goals, and engineering capabilities.
• Guide TE’s go-to-market strategy for new interconnect solutions, ensuring that our technical differentiation is clearly communicated and leveraged in competitive landscapes.

What your background should look like:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Having a dual bachelor’s degree in business or an MBA is a plus
• Generally requires 10 years of relevant electrical engineering work experience and 5+ years of experience in the system-level design in the datacenter, compute, networking or storage industry
• In-depth knowledge of hardware and associated signaling environments. Technical expertise in high-speed engineering and design
• Deep knowledge of compute, networking, AI / ML, or storage architecture.
• Expertise with industry-standard design tools (e.g., simulation, modeling, CAD, or signal integrity analysis)
• The geographically dispersed group requires that the candidate be self-motivating with the ability to take the initiative to accomplish tasks with limited direction
• Ability to clearly communicate technical concepts to diverse audiences
• Effectively able to build relationships with external customers and industry leaders as well as internally across all levels, disciplines, and geographies
• Ability to spend 25%-30% of your time traveling

Competencies