As a Staff Firmware Engineer, you will play a crucial role in shaping the validation process for our cutting-edge optical telecom products. Your primary focus will be to define and execute end-to-end validation strategies, ensuring carrier-class quality and meeting customer expectations. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including HW, Optical, ASIC, FW, and SW, to influence design for testability and drive system-level, feature-level, and regression test planning. This role offers an opportunity to lead root cause analysis, enhance test coverage, and participate in test automation strategies, ensuring scalability and maintainability.NILightpath Own and define/participate in end-to-end validation strategy for coherent pluggable optics and transponder products, ensuring carrier-class quality.Drive system-level, feature-level, and regression test planning, aligned with product architecture, standards, and customer use cases.Lead and execute complex validation using white-box and black-box testing across HW, ASIC, FW, and SW layers.Collaborate closely with HW, Optical, ASIC, FW, and SW teams to influence design for testability and ensure effective collaboration.Lead root cause analysis (RCA) of customer-found and field issues, enhancing test coverage to prevent recurrence.Participate in the test automation strategy, ensuring scalability, long-term maintainability, and quality metrics.Ensure validation readiness and release sign-off, conducting clear risk assessments.Stay updated with industry standards and best practices, contributing to the continuous improvement of validation processes.Mentor and guide junior team members, fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration. Must-have-skillsBE/B.TECH in Engineering with a minimum of 8 years of experience in validation of optical telecom products.Strong domain expertise in validation of Coherent Optics, Transponders, and standards: OTN (G.709), Ethernet (100G/400G/800G), CMIS.Proven experience testing carrier-grade embedded systems in cross-functional and Agile environments.Hands-on experience with optical test equipment, including traffic testers, OSA, Optical Analyzer, Power Meter, VOA, Optical Switch, and BER testers.Strong Python proficiency, with experience in pytest-based automation frameworks preferred.AI-Assisted Development: Proven experience leveraging modern AI tools to accelerate test script generation and optimize debugging.Experience with test automation, Git, CI/CD integration, defect tracking, and test management tools.Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with geographically distributed teams.Self-driven, quality-focused, and adaptable to fast-paced product environments.Cross-cultural knowledge and a global mindset are highly valued. Nice-to-Have SkillsExperience with test automation, Git, CI/CD integration, defect tracking, and test management tools.Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with geographically distributed teams.