Optical Systems Engineer Lead

Job Title

Optical Systems Engineer Lead

Role Summary

Lead the design, modeling, and optimization of high-speed optical-transceiver interconnect solutions for data center and AI applications. Provide technical direction and mentorship to an engineering team and collaborate with IC, packaging, and reliability groups to deliver manufacturable, scalable transceiver architectures.

Experience Level

Senior-level role. Requires proven leadership in transceiver design and high-speed optical communication systems; specific years of experience not stated.

Responsibilities

Own system-level optical transceiver development from specification through verification and correlation with measurements.

• Lead and mentor a team through concept, design, and implementation of optical transceiver products.
• Define system specifications and develop end-to-end optical system models, including DSP, drivers, TIAs, and optical components (lasers, modulators, photodetectors).
• Guide signal integrity analysis and implement/simulate digital equalization (e.g., FFE, DFE, MLSD, pre-emphasis).
• Set verification testing requirements for transceivers and components and oversee verification plans.
• Analyze the impact of impairments (noise, crosstalk, non-linearity, reflections) on system performance.
• Lead numerical and analytical simulations and ensure models are correlated with experimental data at module and component levels.
• Collaborate across IC, packaging, and reliability teams to ensure manufacturable designs.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, tools, and behaviors.

• Demonstrated leadership experience in transceiver design and high-speed optical communication systems and components.
• Familiarity with direct-detection and coherent optical communication architectures.
• Expertise modeling optoelectronic components (lasers, modulators, photodiodes, DAC/ADC, drivers, TIA) using tools such as VPIphotonics, MATLAB, or Python.
• Experience with advanced DSP techniques, including linear and decision-feedback equalization (FFE/DFE) and other digital equalization methods.
• Knowledge of common impairments in high-speed optical links and how they affect system performance.
• Hands-on experience with high-speed optical component measurements using oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, and similar equipment.
• Strong communication and team leadership skills; ability to translate system requirements into practical, testable designs.
• Willingness to travel approximately 20% of the time.

Education Requirements

MS or Ph.D. in Engineering, Physics, Optics, or a related technical field.

About the Company

Company: Lumilens

Headquarters: San Jose, CA, USA

Lumilens develops integrated photonics and optical interconnect solutions for high-speed data communication and chip-to-chip interfaces, focusing on optical front-end hardware and co-packaged optics for advanced semiconductor systems.