Analog/Mixed Signal Architect

Job Title

Analog/Mixed Signal Architect

Role Summary

Design and specify analog and mixed-signal architecture for high-bandwidth optical interconnects used in extreme-scale AI data centers. Partner with analog, photonic, digital, and software teams to define circuit-level requirements, analyze trade-offs, and produce architectural specifications for production devices.

Remote role. One short motivator: contribute to building new photonic-enabled computing architectures used in large-scale AI systems.

Experience Level

Mid-level (no explicit years provided). Candidates are expected to have substantial hands-on AMS design and verification experience.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include defining AMS building blocks and collaborating across disciplines to deliver production products.

• Propose architectures for high-speed (50G+) AMS circuit blocks for optical transceivers (drivers, TIAs, equalizers, ADC/DACs, PLLs, CDRs).
• Provide performance, power, and area estimates and trade-off analyses for analog devices within the Passage platform.
• Collaborate with photonics and digital teams to integrate high-bandwidth photonic interconnect solutions.
• Model and analyze candidate solutions; validate feasibility against system requirements.
• Author, review, and validate architectural specifications and technical documentation for engineering teams.
• Represent the company at technical conferences and clearly communicate architectural decisions to stakeholders.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and personal capabilities.

• Experience designing and testing optical front-end receivers and transmitters, including TIAs and drivers; familiarity with CTLE, DFE, ADC, DAC, and oscillators in advanced CMOS.
• Power user of Cadence Virtuoso and Cadence Spectre; experience with Verilog-A and IBIS-AMI or equivalent simulators.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively in cross-disciplinary engineering teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills for novel or poorly defined technical challenges.

Nice-to-have:

• Understanding of signal processing (equalization, DSP, coding) and signal integrity for optical communication.
• Experience with silicon photonic devices (e.g., Mach–Zehnder and microring modulators, thermally tuned components).
• Self-starter attitude, quick learner, and adaptable to changing technical requirements.
• Data-driven and process-oriented approach to design and documentation.

Education Requirements

PhD in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, or a discipline related to analog design is required.

About the Company

Company: Lightmatter

Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Lightmatter develops photonic AI data-center infrastructure and optical chips for extreme-scale AI and HPC. The company invented the Passage 3D‑stacked photonics engine to provide high-bandwidth, low-latency interconnects across large-scale processors and raised $400M in Series D financing at a reported $4.4B valuation.