Principal Product Engineer

SambaNova is a leader in next-generation AI infrastructure, delivering a full-stack inference platform for customers worldwide. At the core of SambaNova's technology is the RDU (Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit) — a chip built on a dataflow architecture rather than the traditional GPU model. Its decode performance is especially strong for agentic workloads like multi-turn agents, code generation, and long-running applications. RDUs are packaged into SambaRack, rack-scale hardware that lets customers deploy state-of-the-art models with better performance, greater energy efficiency, and faster time to value.

About the team

You'll join the New Product Introduction team within SambaNova's hardware operations organization. The team takes AI server systems from prototype through high-volume production at global contract manufacturers, owning manufacturability, test coverage, yield, and quality, and working closely with electrical, mechanical, firmware, and supply chain teams to get each new product built at scale.

About the role

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Responsibilities

The Senior New Product Introduction (NPI) Engineer plays a critical role in the product-realization process by bridging product design, supply chain, and scalable contract manufacturing. This position ensures that innovative product concepts become reliable, manufacturable, and cost‑effective realities. As an experienced technical leader, you will collaborate with cross functional teams including electrical, mechanical, and firmware engineers to guide products from prototype to mass production. This role suits a hands‑on systems thinker who thrives at the intersection of engineering disciplines and manufacturing operations.

Manufacturing & Quality Leadership

Act as the primary interface with Contract Manufacturers (CMs) and suppliers

Drive prioritization and resolution of manufacturing issues, field failures, and quality concerns

Design for Manufacturability (DFx)

Influence product design early by assessing new technologies and components

Ensure manufacturing readiness through proper equipment, processes, and factory feedback loops

Drive continuous improvements in yield and manufacturability

Product Readiness & Production Execution

Own factory readiness and production builds at global CMs

Support product bring-up and provide training to CM teams

Lead escalations, remote troubleshooting, and onsite support as needed

Test Strategy & Reliability

Partner with Systems Engineering to define manufacturing test coverage

Develop data strategies to monitor capacity, yield, and quality

Execute reliability testing required for product release

Supply Chain Optimization

Drive continuous improvement initiatives to reduce cycle time, cost, and yield loss

Manage supplier PCNs to prevent production disruption

Sustaining Engineering

Own BOM accuracy and manage ECOs/MCOs across NPI and production

Ensure documentation remains aligned with manufacturing builds

Customer & Field Issue Resolution

Collaborate with customer service teams to resolve field quality and performance issues

Change Qualification & Continuity

Qualify alternate components, new processes, and EOL replacements

Perform first article inspections to validate accuracy and quality of changes

Required qualifications

Bachelor in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related field

7+ years of experience in new product introduction, manufacturing engineering, or hardware development

Experience supporting products from prototype through high-volume manufacturing

Strong collaboration across hardware, test, platform, manufacturing, and supply chain teams

Expertise in PCB design considerations for DFM, DFT, and DFA

Experience performing hardware failure analysis and driving root cause and corrective actions

Familiarity with manufacturing test development, yield analysis, and reliability …