Reliability and Test Engineering Manager

Amphenol Communications Solutions (ACS), a division of Amphenol Corporation, is a world leader in interconnect solutions for Communications, Mobile, RF, Optics, and Commercial electronics markets. Amphenol Corporation is one of the world’s largest designers and manufacturers of electrical, electronic and fiber optic connectors and interconnect systems, antennas, sensors and sensor-based products and coaxial and high-speed specialty cable. ACS has an expansive global presence in research and development, manufacturing, and sales. We design and manufacture a wide range of innovative connectors as well as cable assemblies for diverse applications including server, storage, data center, mobile, RF, networking, industrial, business equipment, and automotive.

Position Summary: Reliability and Test Engineering Manager

Location: Valley Green, PA

Amphenol High Speed Products Group is the market leader for high speed, high bandwidth electrical connectors for the Telecom/Datacom market (Mobile Networks, Storage, Servers, Routers, Switches, etc.). Our products help to enable the electronics revolution and remain a key enabler for all the major Tier 1 OEMs globally. We are currently seeking an experienced Reliability and Test Engineering Manager to join our Product Development team. The position will be located in Valley Green, PA.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

As the Reliability and Test Engineering Manager you will provide the lead in supporting the development and validation of new products through testing and analysis of data and designs.

Reliability Strategy & System Definition

• Define and own reliability requirements and strategies for cable assemblies used in AI hardware systems, including rack-level and system-level interconnects.
• Establish mission profiles covering temperature, airflow, vibration, handling, insertion/removal cycles, bend radius, and field service conditions.
• Translate AI infrastructure requirements into quantified reliability targets (life, confidence, environmental margins, electrical performance over time).

Design-for-Reliability (Cable Assemblies)

• Partner with cable and connector design teams to influence:
  • High-speed signal integrity over life (insertion loss, return loss, crosstalk, skew, BER degradation)
  • Mechanical robustness (strain relief, jacket materials, crimp integrity, retention features)
  • Connector interfaces (fretting corrosion, plating wear, contact normal force, mating durability)
  • Thermal and airflow interactions in dense AI racks
• Drive design decisions that mitigate failure mechanisms such as:
  • Micro-motion-induced intermittents
  • Conductor and shield fatigue
  • Connector contact wear and oxidation.
  • Jacket cracking, creep, or abrasion
• Review designs for compliance with derating, material compatibility, and manufacturability best practices.

Test, Validation & Qualification

• Develop and execute reliability and qualification test plans specific to AI-scale cable assemblies, including:
  • Thermal cycling and thermal aging
  • Temperature/humidity bias (THB)
  • Vibration and mechanical shock
  • Flex, bend, torsion, and pull testing
  • Connector mating/unmating durability
  • Accelerated life testing (ALT) with combined stresses
• Define electrical performance monitoring during stress, including:
  • Insertion loss and impedance drift
  • Eye diagrams and BER under stress
  • Intermittent detection during vibration and thermal cycling
• Lead or support HALT characterization to understand design margins and dominant failure mechanisms.

Failure Analysis & Root Cause

• Lead complex electrical-mechanical failure analysis for cable assemblies, including:
  • Intermittent opens and shorts
  • Signal degradation over life
  • Connector fretting, corrosion, or plating wear
  • Crimp, weld, or termination failures.
• Apply structured root cause methods (8D, 5-Why, Fishbone) supported by:
  • Electrical probing and TDR
  • X-ray and micro sectioning
  • Optical and SEM analysis (as applicable)
• Drive corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) and verify effectiveness through retesting.

Reliability Modeling & Data Analytics

• Build life and reliability models (Weibull, Arrhenius, Coffin-Manson, Miner’s rule) appropriate for cable and connector failure mechanisms.
• Correlate accelerated test results with field data to validate models and confidence levels.
• Analyze FRACAS, RMA, and deployment data to identify systemic risks across large-scale AI infrastructure.

Manufacturing & Supplier Engagement

• Partner with manufacturing teams to define process controls, screening, and ESS strategies for cable assemblies.
• Work directly with cable and connector suppliers to:
  • Review materials, processes, and reliability data.
  • Audit manufacturing controls.
  • Resolve field and production issues.
• Assess reliability impact of ECO/ECN changes, including materials, suppliers, tooling, or process shifts.

Technical Leadership & Documentation

• Author reliability reports, qualification summaries, and launch readiness documentation suitable for executive and customer review.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote reliability best practices across cable, hardware, and systems teams.
• Clearly communicate reliability risks and tradeoffs in high-performance AI systems.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field (Master’s preferred).
• 7+ years of experience in reliability engineering, validation, or failure analysis for cable assemblies, connectors, or high-speed interconnects.
• Strong understanding of high-speed electrical performance and how it degrades over time and stress.
• Hands-on experience with mechanical and environmental testing of cable assemblies.
• Proven experience diagnosing intermittent and mixed electrical-mechanical failures.
• Proficiency with reliability statistics and life data analysis (Weibull, ALT correlation).
• Strong cross-functional communication and technical leadership skills.

Additional Qualifications

• Experience with AI data center or hyperscale infrastructure.
• Familiarity with high-speed copper and hybrid cable technologies (DAC, AOC, internal high-speed harnesses).
• Working knowledge of SI/PI concepts (eye margin, BER, impedance control) as they relate to reliability.
• Familiarity with relevant standards (IPC, IEC, Telcordia, MIL-STD, or equivalent).
• Experience supporting high-volume manufacturing and deployment at scale.

Key Competencies

• Systems-level thinking across electrical, mechanical, and environmental domains
• Strong lab-based troubleshooting and root cause analysis
• Data-driven decision making under ambiguity.
• Ability to balance performance, reliability, cost, and deployment speed.
• Clear, concise technical communication

What Success Looks Like

• Cable assembly reliability risks are identified early and mitigated before large-scale AI deployment.
• Electrical performance remains stable over life in dense, high-power AI environments.
• Intermittent and field-driven failures are rapidly resolved with verified fixes.
• Field return rates and system downtime attributable to interconnects are significantly reduced

Amphenol Corporation is proud of our reputation as an excellent employer. Our focus is to provide the highest level of support and responsiveness to both our employees and our customers, the world's largest technology companies. Amphenol Corporation offers the opportunity for career growth within a global organization. We believe that Amphenol Corporation is unique in that every employee, regardless of his or her position, has the ability to positively impact the business.

Amphenol is an “Equal Opportunity Employer” - Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/National Origin. For additional company information please visit our website at https://www.amphenol-cs.com/