Sr Staff/Principal Laser Design Engineer (AI Photonics)

Location: Boston, MA or Mountain View, CA, United States. Flexible hybrid workplace model.

Salary: $212,000–$320,000 USD per year, plus equity and other rewards.

Company

hirify.global develops photonics infrastructure for AI and high-performance computing data centers, including 3D-stacked photonics engines and scalable laser solutions.

What you will do

• Own the design of high-power laser epitaxial structures and DFB, DBR, and external-cavity laser devices.
• Design III-V epitaxial layer stacks and optimize optical gain, carrier confinement, threshold current density, wall-plug efficiency, and high-temperature performance.
• Optimize cavity designs for output power, wavelength control, linewidth, SMSR, RIN, and back-reflection tolerance.
• Develop monolithic and silicon-photonics heterogeneously integrated lasers and semiconductor optical amplifiers.
• Use physics-based and traveling-wave simulations, Python data analysis, and characterization results to iterate device designs.
• Collaborate with systems, electrical, packaging, thermal, characterization, epitaxy, and foundry teams to define specifications, qualify designs, and transfer them to volume manufacturing.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Photonics, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Materials Science, or a related field with at least 5 years of relevant post-degree experience; or M.S. with at least 8 years of relevant experience; equivalent experience accepted.
• Deep hands-on expertise in semiconductor laser and III-V compound semiconductor epitaxy design.
• Demonstrated experience designing DFB, DBR, and/or external-cavity lasers.
• Strong knowledge of laser physics and semiconductor device physics, including optical gain, threshold, efficiency, RIN, linewidth, thermal rollover, and back-reflection behavior.
• Proficiency with physics-based laser and photonic simulation tools such as PhotonDesign Harold/PICWave, VPIphotonics, or Lumerical, plus Python data analysis.
• Ability to independently lead complex designs, resolve ambiguous technical challenges, collaborate across hardware teams, and communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Nice to have

• Experience with silicon photonics, heterogeneous III-V integration on silicon, and semiconductor optical amplifiers.
• Experience with high-power semiconductor lasers for datacom applications.
• Experience taking laser products from prototype through high-volume manufacturing, including epitaxy and reliability qualification.
• Published photonics research or participation in the broader optics community.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible hybrid workplace model.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Retirement savings matching, life insurance, disability coverage, and paid family leave.
• Vacation, sick leave, and public holidays.
• Training and development, commuter benefits, and equity grants for full-time employees.