Senior Principal R&D Hardware Design Engineer

Job Description:

Senior Principal R&D Hardware Design Engineer - Next-Generation Networking

Define the architecture. Shape the technology roadmap. Set the engineering standard.

At Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Senior Principal Engineers are enterprise-level technical leaders who define platform architecture, shape long-range technology strategy, and establish engineering direction across products and organizations. Their impact extends across multiple platforms, teams, and technology generations.

If you are a hardware architect who excels in ambiguity, anticipates future system needs, and influences complex decisions across disciplines and global teams, this role offers the opportunity to shape networking platforms at scale.
 

HPE is a global technology leader built on innovation, trust, and engineering excellence. We empower Senior Principal Engineers with broad architectural ownership, autonomy, and the influence to drive high-impact technical decisions while collaborating with experienced engineering leaders across the company.

Why HPE Networking?

HPE Networking is a strategic growth engine for the company, delivering open, standards-based solutions across Branch, Campus, and Data Center environments worldwide. Our platforms serve customers from growing enterprises to the world’s largest hyperscalers.

As a Senior Principal Engineer, your work will define system and hardware architectures, shape multi-generation technology roadmaps, and influence performance, reliability, scalability, cost, and design reuse across multiple product families.

We are seeking a Senior Principal R&D Hardware Design Engineer to join our high-speed digital circuit design organization. You will lead the architecture of advanced networking systems, translating product and technology requirements into scalable hardware platforms while driving system-level trade-offs across compute, switching silicon, memory, high-speed interfaces, power, timing, management, and board design.

This role is for an accomplished technical leader who can connect customer and product needs to hardware architecture, align diverse stakeholders, and turn architectural direction into globally deployed products.

HOW YOU’LL MAKE AN IMPACT
 

As a Senior Principal R&D Hardware Design Engineer, you will serve as a lead hardware architect and senior technical authority, defining platform direction and influencing decisions across product lines, engineering functions, and global R&D organizations.
 

You will:

• Define and own end-to-end hardware architecture for complex, high-performance networking platforms and reusable design frameworks across multiple product generations.
• Translate product requirements, customer use cases, technology trends, and business constraints into scalable system and board-level architectures.
• Lead architectural partitioning and system-level trade-offs across switching silicon, processors, memory, high-speed interfaces, power delivery, clocking, management, thermal, mechanical, firmware, manufacturability, reliability, and cost.
• Develop architecture specifications, interface definitions, design principles, and decision records that guide detailed implementation and enable alignment across global teams.
• Drive early feasibility, modeling, risk assessment, and technology evaluation to validate architectural choices before design commitment.
• Chair architecture and design reviews, resolve complex cross-functional technical issues, and ensure design integrity from concept through qualification and production.
• Establish platform-level design standards, reference architectures, and technology adoption strategies that improve reuse, quality, and execution across programs.
• Mentor principal and senior engineers, develop future architects, and elevate technical decision-making and engineering capability across the organization.

Why This Role Stands Out
 

• Senior Principal-level architectural ownership across complex, high-performance networking platforms
• Opportunity to shape multi-generation platform strategy, technology roadmaps, and reusable design approaches
• Influence across product management, system architecture, silicon, firmware, mechanical, validation, manufacturing, and supply chain teams
• Work on advanced networking products deployed globally across Branch, Campus, and Data Center environments
• Visible technical leadership role with broad scope for mentorship, engineering standards, and organizational capability building
   

About You

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering or a closely related discipline.
• 15+ years of experience designing and architecting complex electronic systems and hardware platforms, including significant technical leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated success defining end-to-end hardware architecture and making system-level trade-offs across multiple engineering disciplines.
• Proven ability to translate product requirements, customer use cases, and technology roadmaps into scalable and executable hardware architectures.
• Recognized technical authority who influences architecture and engineering direction across multiple teams, programs, or product families.
• Deep expertise in high-speed digital systems, including signal integrity, power integrity, clocking, power delivery, system performance, reliability, and design margin.
• Extensive experience with architecture definition, board-level design, design reviews, prototyping, measurement, validation, characterization, and complex root-cause analysis.
• Advanced board-level design experience using Cadence OrCAD and Allegro, with strong understanding of PCB technology, layout constraints, and manufacturing considerations.

Additional Preferred Abilities

• Ability to operate independently at a Senior Principal level, setting technical direction and making high-impact architectural decisions with limited oversight.
• Strong cross-organizational influence and relationship-building skills, including the ability to align senior technical leaders and resolve competing priorities.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to present architecture, explain complex trade-offs, and influence senior engineering, product, and management stakeholders.
• Strategic thinker and active mentor who develops technical leaders, establishes engineering standards, and raises architectural capability across the organization.

Accessibility

HPE is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible workplace and encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including those with disabilities. If you believe you require accommodation during any stage of the application or interview process, please submit your request by completing our secure form linked here.

Note: This option is reserved for applicants needing assistance/reasonable accommodation related to a disability.

Health & Wellbeing

We strive to provide our team members and their loved ones with a comprehensive suite of benefits that supports their physical, financial and emotional wellbeing.

Personal & Professional Development

We also invest in your career because the better you are, the better we all are. We have specific programs catered to helping you reach any career goals you have — whether you want to become a knowledge expert in your field or apply your skills to another division.

Unconditional Inclusion

We are unconditionally inclusive in the way we work and celebrate individual uniqueness. We know varied backgrounds are valued and succeed here. We have the flexibility to manage our work and personal needs. We make bold moves, together, and are a force for good.

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise is EEO Protected Veteran/ Individual with Disabilities.

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