Senior Photonic Design Engineer (Integrated Photonics)

TL;DR

Senior Photonic Design Engineer (Integrated Photonics): Designing and optimizing next-generation optical microsystems and photonic integrated circuits (PICs) with an accent on tapeout, fabrication, and characterization. Focus on developing active and passive photonic devices and solving complex challenges in communications, sensing, defense, and quantum applications.

Location: Washington, DC, San Francisco, CA, Cambridge, MA, New York City, NY, or Santa Barbara. Must be a US Citizen or Green Card holder.

Salary: $150,000–$400,000

Company

A well-funded photonics startup developing next-generation optical microsystems to disrupt traditional laser markets.

What you will do

• Design, simulate, layout, and tape out photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and subsystems.
• Develop and optimize active and passive photonic devices for next-generation optical systems.
• Perform hands-on characterization and testing of fabricated photonic devices and circuits.
• Analyze measurement data to drive future design iterations and performance improvements.
• Collaborate with foundry partners, packaging vendors, and cross-functional engineering teams.
• Lead technical efforts, contribute to product roadmaps, and support R&D initiatives.

Requirements

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Photonics, Optics, or a related STEM field.
• 3-10 years of experience designing and developing photonic integrated circuits.
• Proven experience owning PIC designs through layout, tapeout, fabrication, and characterization.
• Hands-on experience with photonic device testing, measurement, and data analysis.
• Proficiency with photonic simulation tools such as Lumerical (FDTD, MODE, CHARGE, Interconnect).
• Must be a US Citizen or Green Card holder.

Nice to have

• Experience designing active and/or passive silicon photonic devices.
• Experience with commercial photonics foundries, PDKs, design rule checks, and tapeout workflows.
• Proficiency with layout tools such as KLayout, GDSFactory, or Cadence Virtuoso.
• Experience automating measurements or testing workflows using Python or MATLAB.
• Background in photonic packaging, fiber attach, or PIC-to-electronics integration.