Lead Applications Engineer – WiFi (NPI Apps)

Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB) is the leading innovator in low-power wireless connectivity, building embedded technology that connects devices and improves lives. Merging cutting-edge technology into the world’s most highly integrated SoCs, Silicon Labs provides device makers the solutions, support, and ecosystems needed to create advanced edge connectivity applications. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Silicon Labs has operations in over 16 countries and is the trusted partner for innovative solutions in the smart home, industrial IoT, and smart cities markets. Learn more at www.silabs.com.

Meet the Team:

The Applications Team at Silicon Labs plays a critical role in enabling customer success across IoT products, including Wi-Fi, BLE, Zigbee, Matter, and MCU platforms. The NPI (New Product Introduction) Apps team focuses on early-stage product engagement, working closely with R&D, Product Management, Segment teams, and customers to ensure product readiness from Alpha through General Availability (GA).

This team acts as a bridge between customers and internal engineering teams, driving use-case definition, system validation, and product improvements to ensure successful customer adoption and production readiness.

Role Summary

As a Lead Applications Engineer in the NPI Apps team, you will drive early customer engagements (Alpha/Beta), define and validate real-world use cases, and ensure that Silicon Labs’ Wi-Fi products are ready for production deployment.

You will work closely with customers, segment teams, and engineering to translate requirements into deliverables, identify gaps early, and influence product quality, usability, and system performance.

This role combines hands-on debugging, system-level problem solving, and strategic product influence.

Key Responsibilities

1. NPI & Customer Engagement

• Lead Alpha and Beta customer engagements for Wi-Fi products
• Act as the primary technical point of contact for assigned NPI customers
• Translate customer use cases into clear technical requirements for R&D and Product teams
• Drive end-to-end customer enablement from early evaluation to production readiness

2. System Validation & Product Readiness

• Validate end-to-end system use cases (beyond individual features)
• Identify gaps in SDK, features, documentation, and tools before GA
• Ensure production readiness for key customer deployments
• Provide structured feedback to improve product quality and usability

3. Debugging & Issue Resolution

• Own customer issues end-to-end: reproduce, debug, escalate, and close
• Debug across layers: application, TCP/UDP, IP, Wi-Fi MAC/PHY, and system level
• Analyze issues related to connectivity, throughput, power, coexistence, and certification
• Use tools such as Wireshark, iperf, spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers

4. Debug Infrastructure & Diagnostics

• Define and drive requirements for debug infrastructure (logs, traces, crash dumps)
• Enable efficient field issue triage and root cause analysis
• Work with R&D to improve system observability and debuggability

5. Sample Applications & Documentation

• Define and develop use-case-driven sample applications aligned with target customers
• Contribute to SDK examples, application notes, and developer documentation
• Ensure documentation completeness and usability for customer adoption

6. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with R&D, Product Management, Segment teams, and FAEs
• Influence product roadmap and feature prioritization based on customer insights
• Support certification, interoperability, and ecosystem readiness

Required Skills

• Strong fundamentals in Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax); exposure to Wi-Fi 6/7 is a plus
• Experience with embedded systems, MCU, RTOS, and SDK development
• Strong debugging skills across networking and system layers (OSI model)
• Hands-on experience with tools: Wireshark, iperf, sniffers, logic analyzers
• Understanding of RF fundamentals and coexistence
• Experience with hardware interfaces: UART, SPI, I2C, SDIO
• Ability to read and understand schematics
• Strong problem-solving and communication skills

Preferred Skills

• Experience in customer-facing or applications engineering roles
• Experience with multi-protocol wireless systems (Wi-Fi + BLE, Matter, Zigbee, etc.)
• Familiarity with Wi-Fi certification and regulatory processes
• Experience with embedded Linux or host-based networking systems
• Knowledge of wireless security concepts (authentication, encryption, provisioning)
• Familiarity with tools like Jira, Salesforce, or similar platforms

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electronics Engineering, or related field
• 8+ years of experience in embedded Wi-Fi development, system validation, or applications engineering
• Experience in customer enablement or product bring-up for Wi-Fi SoC/MCU platforms

Why Join This Role

• Opportunity to influence product success before market launch
• Direct engagement with leading IoT customers and use cases
• Strong collaboration across engineering, product, and customer teams
• Blend of hands-on engineering and strategic impact

Benefits & Perks :

Not only will you be joining a highly skilled and tight-knit team where every engineer makes a significant impact on the product; we also strive for good work/life balance and to make our environment welcoming and fun.

• Equity Rewards (RSUs)

• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)

• Insurance plans with Outpatient cover

• National Pension Scheme (NPS)

• Flexible work policy

• Childcare support

Silicon Labs is an equal opportunity employer and values the diversity of our employees. Employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and job-related criteria without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.