Scientist II, Silicon Photonics

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Salary: $128,000–$170,000 USD base salary per year

Company

hirify.global is building AI-powered autonomous science systems and instruments for discovery across medicine, materials, and energy.

What you will do

• Own characterization across thin-film material properties, passive photonic structures, and electro-optic modulators at chip and wafer level.
• Define measurement strategies, calibration procedures, quality controls, data standards, and measurement limitations.
• Design, assemble, calibrate, align, and debug optical and optoelectronic measurement setups.
• Develop measurement methods for novel thin-film materials and wafer-level approaches for analyzing process variation.
• Interpret results through material properties, device physics, process variation, measurement uncertainty, and repeatability.
• Feed findings into material, design, and fabrication decisions while partnering with simulation, ML, and automation teams.

Requirements

• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Materials Science, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience characterizing photonic materials and devices at chip and wafer level, from thin-film measurements through passive and active device testing.
• Experience measuring thin-film optical and electro-optic properties, including electro-optic coefficient extraction.
• Experience testing waveguides, resonators, couplers, electro-optic modulators, or related integrated photonic devices.
• Experience building and debugging optical and optoelectronic setups, including alignment, calibration, and noise control.
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or an equivalent language, plus familiarity with high-speed RF/electronics, fiber optics, and electro-optic testing workflows.

Nice to have

• Experience with heterogeneous or hybrid electro-optic materials integrated on silicon photonics, including χ⁽²⁾ or Pockels-effect thin films.
• Cleanroom fabrication, wafer-level photonic probing, active alignment, or foundry workflow experience.
• Familiarity with Lumerical, COMSOL, or equivalent photonic simulation tools.
• Experience with test automation, instrument control software, measurement data pipelines, or supplying data to ML and simulation teams.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time U.S. employees receive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Benefits include employer-paid life and disability insurance, flexible time off, company-wide holidays, and paid parental leave.
• Educational assistance, commuter benefits, bike-share memberships for office-based employees, and a subsidized lunch program are available.
• International full-time employees receive benefits tailored to their region.
• The company operates with startup speed while developing autonomous scientific systems.