Software Quality Assurance Manager – IEEE 802.15.4 / Zigbee / OpenThread

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 .

The Role Silicon Labs is building a world-class Software Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad, and we are looking for an experienced Software Quality Assurance (SQA) Manager to build and lead our IEEE 802.15.4, Zigbee, and OpenThread QA team.

This team will be responsible for driving the quality of software and firmware for Silicon Labs EFR wireless SoCs, with primary focus on IEEE 802.15.4-based connectivity solutions, including Zigbee and Thread/OpenThread.

The team will also validate relevant end-to-end ecosystems such as Matter over Thread and interoperability with devices, controllers, border routers, and third-party implementations.

The manager will combine strong people leadership with sufficient technical depth to guide validation strategy, quality engineering, automation, interoperability, and release readiness for low-power mesh networking products used across smart home, industrial, commercial, and other IoT markets.

This position is based out of Silicon Labs, Hyderabad.

The role requires close collaboration with global teams across the USA and Europe and therefore requires flexibility in work hours to accommodate meetings and stakeholder engagement later in the day.

What You Will Do Lead, build, and manage a high-performing SQA team in Hyderabad focused on IEEE 802.15.4, Zigbee, and Thread/OpenThread technologies.

Own people management responsibilities including hiring, onboarding, resource planning, mentoring, performance management, career development, and retention of a highly skilled QA organization.

Drive validation strategy and execution for Silicon Labs EFR-based IEEE 802.15.4 solutions, with deep focus on Zigbee and OpenThread/Thread and relevant Matter over Thread use cases.

Ensure comprehensive quality coverage across protocol functionality, network formation and operation, security, interoperability, system integration, negative and stress scenarios, performance, reliability, and regression testing.

Guide validation of representative Zigbee behaviors and ecosystems, including commissioning/network formation, routing and mesh behavior, application-layer interactions, security, interoperability, and long-duration network stability.

Guide validation of Thread/OpenThread networking, including commissioning/attachment, mesh formation and routing, IPv6/6LoWPAN behavior, security, border-router interactions, interoperability, and network robustness.

Partner closely with protocol-stack development, firmware, embedded software, applications, program management, product teams, and global engineering organizations to align priorities, schedules, defect resolution, and release readiness.

Establish measurable quality processes and metrics covering test effectiveness, automation, defect trends, regressions, release risk, and execution predictability.

Drive scalable automation for protocol and system validation, reduce legacy/manual test backlog, and steer automation architecture toward reusable, maintainable frameworks and lab infrastructure.

Drive interoperability and ecosystem validation with third-party devices and implementations, and support readiness for relevant Zigbee, Thread, and Matter certification activities.

Regularly communicate project status, quality metrics, risks, trade-offs, and mitigation plans to local and global leadership.

Champion continuous improvement in QA methodologies, tools, infrastructure, engineering productivity, and team effectiveness.

Drive adoption of modern engineering productivity practices, including responsible use of Gen AI-assisted development and QA tools, to improve automation velocity, debugging efficiency, and engineering effectiveness.

What We Are Looking For Proven experience building and managing software quality assurance, software development in test, or embedded wireless validation teams, preferably in the semiconductor or wireless connectivity domain.

Strong technical understanding of IEEE 802.15.4 and hands-on experience testing, validating, debugging, or developing Zigbee and/or Thread/OpenThread solutions.

Strong candidates should have depth in at least one of Zigbee or OpenThread and meaningful working knowledge of the other.

Solid understanding of low-power mesh networking concepts, including network formation, addressing, routing, security, commissioning, interoperability, and behavior under scale, interference, and long-duration operation.

Working knowledge of Zigbee architecture and ecosystem concepts such as Zigbee application profiles/device behavior, Zigbee Cluster Library (ZCL), commissioning, security, and mesh networking.

Working knowledge of Thread/OpenThread architecture and ecosystem concepts such as IPv6, 6LoWPAN, mesh routing, device roles, commissioning, security, and Thread Border Router interactions.

Experience validating embedded software and firmware on MCU- and wireless SoC-based systems, including system-level debugging across host, stack, radio, and application boundaries.

Experience with interoperability, certification-oriented validation, or ecosystem testing involving multiple vendors/devices.

Strong understanding of data communications and networking concepts and the ability to translate protocol requirements and customer use cases into effective validation strategies.

Experience working closely with cross-functional global teams including development, program management, product, and field/application engineering,