Senior Photonics Design Engineer (Silicon Photonics)

Location: Santa Clara, California, United States; hybrid work model with time split between the assigned hirify.global site and off-site work.

Annual salary: $164,470–$232,190 USD

Company

hirify.global's Integrated Photonics Solutions team develops and commercializes silicon photonics technologies for optical communications, data centers, and AI-driven systems.

What you will do

• Design, simulate, and optimize modulators, passive devices, lasers, detectors, and other photonic integrated circuit components.
• Perform tolerance analysis to maintain component reliability and performance across operating conditions.
• Lead test-chip development from design and layout through tapeout, testing, and validation.
• Analyze characterization data, identify performance gaps, and develop optimization strategies.
• Develop photonic component models and innovative test methodologies.
• Research emerging photonics technologies and collaborate with cross-disciplinary engineering teams on system-level requirements and hirify.globallectual property development.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optical Science, or a related field with 6+ years of relevant experience; or a Master's degree with 4+ years; or a Ph.D. with 2+ years in photonic device design and simulation.
• Proficiency with optical and RF design and simulation tools such as Lumerical, RSoft, or Tidy3D.
• Hands-on experience designing photonic integrated circuits from concept through high-volume manufacturing.
• Familiarity with photonic test methods and equipment, including optical spectrum analyzers, tunable lasers, and optical vector analyzers.
• Experience analyzing photonic test data statistically using JMP, Python, or Matlab.
• Strong collaboration, communication, and proactive problem-solving skills.

Nice to have

• Experience with Cadence or KLayout for component layout and PIC tapeouts.
• Experience with ring modulators, Mach-Zehnder interferometers, EAMs, or EMLs.
• Knowledge of link modeling, Monte Carlo analysis, optical coupling, inverse design, and circuit-level simulations.
• Understanding of electronic IC integration with photonic systems, including drivers, TIAs, DSPs, and modulators.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work model combining on-site and off-site work.
• Health, retirement, and vacation benefits.
• Competitive pay and stock bonuses.
• Work on high-volume photonic integration and optical communication technologies.