Photonic Component Modelling Engineer

Job Title

Photonic Component Modelling Engineer

Role Summary

Salience Labs develops optical circuit switching solutions for AI infrastructure. This role builds behavioral and compact models of photonic components that form the foundation for system-level verification of photonic-electronic systems.

The engineer will work with system verification, photonic design, and characterization teams to ensure models reflect device physics and perform reliably across operating conditions and process variations.

Experience Level

Mid-level - 3+ years of hands-on experience in photonic component design and/or simulation.

Responsibilities

You will develop, validate, and maintain photonic device models and the tooling around them. Key tasks include:

• Develop and maintain models of optical primitives (modulators, switches, photodetectors, couplers) for simulation and system verification.
• Verify models against device physics across process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) corners.
• Release models that meet defined QA criteria and maintain version-controlled artifacts.
• Validate PDK component libraries and ensure process updates do not break circuit-level simulations.
• Extract model parameters from lab measurements and correlate simulation with measurement data.
• Build and maintain automated tooling (Python and/or MATLAB) for parameter extraction, model fitting, and regression tracking.
• Maintain regression suites to check model and PDK changes against reference data before release.
• Investigate and resolve model discrepancies at system level and communicate model-driven design risks.
• Keep reproducible records: version-controlled models, scripts, reference data, and QA results.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and working practices:

• Practical experience with photonic component design and simulation workflows.
• Solid understanding of integrated photonic building blocks (passive and active) and their electrical drive requirements.
• Strong scripting for model fitting and data analysis (Python and/or MATLAB).
• Comfortable working in Linux and using version control systems.
• Strong documentation habits: model specifications, QA reports, and traceability from data to released models.
• Clear communicator with a collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience modelling signal propagation in photonic integrated circuits.
• Hands-on experience with silicon photonics platforms.
• Experience with optical/photonic simulation tools (FDTD, mode solvers, circuit-level simulators).
• Familiarity with foundry PDK-based photonic design flows.
• Tcl scripting experience.

Education Requirements

MS or PhD in photonics, electrical engineering, applied physics, or a related field - or equivalent practical experience. No specific certifications required; the posting explicitly allows equivalent experience in place of an advanced degree.

About the Company

Company: Salience Labs

Headquarters: Oxford, United Kingdom

Salience Labs develops integrated photonics technologies and solutions, focusing on experimental characterisation, device development and engineering for advanced optical and photonic systems. They work across photonic design, manufacturing and system testing, supporting R&D and product development.