Socket.dev

Role Summary

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for AIS is responsible for defining and leading the company's technology and innovation strategy for interconnect solutions This includes ownership of technology direction, roadmap execution, engineering excellence, and the integration of these into AIS standard operating procedures (SOPs) to enable a seamless and efficient customer experience.

The CTO ensures AIS delivers differentiated, scalable, and manufacturable technology platforms aligned to strategic customer roadmaps and market inflection points. This role integrates advanced engineering development with design standardization, design for automation, and manufacturing optimization, ensuring rapid innovation transitions into high-yield, high-volume production.

This role also ensures full system-level integration between socket technologies and AIS PCBA platforms, enabling optimized electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing performance across the entire interconnect solution.

As a key executive leader, the CTO drives technical competitiveness, platform reuse, process discipline, and factory scalability, positioning AIS as the technology leader in socket and interconnect solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• 1. Technology Strategy & Roadmap Leadership
  • Define and own AIS technology strategy across socket and interconnect solutions.
  • Establish forward-looking roadmaps for:
    • Signal Integrity (SI) and Power Integrity (PI)
    • Co-Packaged Optics (CPO)
    • Co-Packaged Copper (CPC)
    • High-density, high-speed socket architectures
  • Align technology direction with strategic customer roadmaps (AI, HPC, advanced packaging).
  • Anticipate key inflection points (data rates, power density, thermal constraints) and position AIS ahead of market needs.
• 1. Socket Technology Leadership
  • Serve as the enterprise leader for socket architecture, design, and performance innovation.
  • Drive next-generation socket solutions enabling:
    • Ultra-high-speed data transmission
    • Advanced thermal and mechanical performance
    • Compatibility with chiplet, 2.5D/3D, and interposer-based architectures
  • Ensure tight integration between socket, substrate, and system-level test requirements.
• 1. Advanced Engineering & Innovation Execution
  • Lead global engineering across SI/PI, mechanical, materials, and electrical disciplines.
  • Drive innovation in:
    • Advanced materials (low-loss dielectrics, copper technologies, thin films)
    • Modeling and simulation (SI/PI, thermal, mechanical)
    • Design-for-X (DFM, DFT, DFA, reliability)
  • Establish disciplined frameworks to transition R&D into production-ready solutions.
• 1. Socket-to-PCBA System Integration Leadership
  • Own the end-to-end integration of socket solutions into AIS PCBA platforms, ensuring seamless system-level performance.
  • Drive co-design and co-optimization across:
    • Socket architecture
    • Test boards / PCBA layouts
    • Signal and power delivery networks
    • Thermal and mechanical interfaces
  • Ensure alignment of SI/PI, materials, and stack-up design from socket through PCB.
  • Establish integrated design rules and interface standards to ensure scalability, compatibility, and repeatability.
  • Align engineering and manufacturing teams to eliminate disconnects between component design and system-level execution.
  • Enable faster qualification, improved yield, and reduced integration risk through tightly coupled designs.
• 1. Design Standardization & Platform Architecture Sockets and Mechanical
  • Define and implement design standards, reusable modules, and platform architectures across AIS.
  • Drive platform reuse to reduce cycle time, complexity, and cost.
  • Ensure consistent application of engineering best practices globally.
  • Establish standardized interface definitions across socket, PCB, and system architectures.
• 1. Manufacturing Optimization & Technology Transfer Sockets and Mechanical
  • Ensure all technologies are:
    • Manufacturable at scale
    • Yield-optimized
    • Cost-competitive
  • Lead design-to-manufacturing integration, including:
    • Process capability alignment
    • Cycle time optimization
    • Capacity scalability (panel size, throughput, equipment strategy)
  • Establish robust NPI-to-HVM transition models with clear readiness criteria.
  • Ensure all designs meet DFM and DFA requirements to enable highly automated production environments.
• 1. Design for Automation (DFA) Leadership
  • Define and lead AIS’s Design for Automation (DFA) strategy across socket and PCBA product lines.
  • Ensure products are inherently optimized for:
    • Automated assembly
    • Inline inspection and test automationScalable high-volume manufacturing
  • Establish DFA standards covering:
    • Geometry, tolerances, and alignment features
    • Material compatibility with automation
    • Interfaces enabling robotic assembly and test
  • Drive co-development between engineering and manufacturing automation teams.
  • Reduce manual touchpoints and improve:
    • Throughput
    • Repeatability
    • Cost structure
  • Integrate DFA with DFM, DFT, and system-level architecture.
• 1. Cross-Functional Integration
  • Act as the technical integrator across Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Quality.
  • Ensure alignment between technology development, customer qualification timing, and operational readiness.
  • Lead executive-level technical readiness reviews and risk identification/mitigation.
• 1. Strategic Customer & Ecosystem Engagement
  • Engage directly with strategic customers on:
    • Technology roadmaps
    • Co-development initiatives (CPO/CPC, substrates, interconnects)
    • Qualification and performance requirements
  • Build partnerships across the semiconductor ecosystem (materials, substrates, OEMs, foundries).
• 1. Organization Leadership & Capability Building
  • Build and lead a world-class global technology organization.
  • Develop deep expertise in:
    • High-speed electrical design
    • Optical/electrical co-packaging
    • Process engineering and manufacturability
  • Drive a culture of innovation, accountability, and execution discipline.
• 1. M&A and Strategic Partnerships
  • Identify, evaluate, and drive acquisitions and partnerships aligned with strategic customer roadmaps.
  • Target opportunities that enhance AIS’s technology portfolio, improve supply chain control, mitigate risk and drive manufacturing efficiencies for next-generation sockets and PCBA,.
  • Ensure seamless integration of acquired technologies into AIS platforms, accelerating time-to-market and strengthening competitive positioning.

What Success Looks Like

• AIS is recognized as the technology leader in socket and interconnect solutions.
• Successful deployment of CPO/CPC-enabled socket platforms aligned to customer roadmaps.
• Strong system-level performance across socket + PCBA integration.
• Measurable improvements in:
  • SI/PI performance
  • Time-to-market
  • Manufacturing yield and cost
  • Automation efficiency and labor reduction
• A standardized, modular design ecosystem driving speed and reuse.
• Seamless transition of new technologies into high-volume, automated manufacturing.
• Strategic partnerships with top-tier semiconductor customers and ecosystem leaders.

QualificationsKey Qualifications

• 15+ years of leadership in semiconductor, interconnect, or advanced packaging technologies.
• Deep expertise in:
  • Signal Integrity / Power Integrity (112G / 224G / 448G+)
  • Socket, substrate, or interconnect design
  • Co-packaged optics or high-speed system integration
• Proven track record scaling technologies from R&D to high-volume manufacturing.
• Experience driving design standardization, DFA, and factory automation.
• Executive leadership experience with global engineering organizations.
• Strong understanding of semiconductor test ecosystems and customer qualification processes.