Principal Optical Engine (OE) / Link Architect
Xscape PhotonicsJob Title
Principal Optical Engine (OE) / Link Architect
Role Summary
Lead technical definition and architecture for optical link design of next-generation optical engines. Work with Product Management to convert market requirements into detailed product requirements and drive system-level decisions across photonics, electronics, thermal, and mechanical domains.
Responsible for creating OCI-MSA-ready optical engine architectures, defining end-to-end link budgets, and ensuring integration between Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) and Electronic Integrated Circuits (EIC).
Experience Level
Senior — typical candidate has 10+ years of industry experience as a Transceiver Architect, Link Architect, or Principal Optical System Architect.
Responsibilities
Accountable for architectural definition, PRD ownership, and standards alignment across optical engine and link subsystems.
- Collaborate with Product Management to develop and own detailed Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) from MRDs.
- Architect complete optical transceiver sub-systems balancing optical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical trade-offs for OCI-MSA compliance.
- Define and manage end-to-end optical link budgets; model impairments (dispersion, noise, crosstalk, penalties) and specify FEC requirements.
- Lead integration strategy between PIC and EIC, optimizing interfaces among DSPs, TIAs, modulator drivers, and optical components.
- Drive modulation-format and signal-integrity decisions (e.g., PAM4, coherent) and coordinate with SI/PI teams.
- Represent the company in standards bodies and ensure product alignment with OCI and MSA requirements.
- Perform technical and cost trade-off analyses for architectures, packaging, component selection, and link allocations.
Requirements
Key must-have technical skills and experience. Preferred items listed separately.
- Must-have: 10+ years as a Transceiver/Link Architect or Principal Optical System Architect with hands-on transceiver design experience (OSFP, QSFP-DD, or co-packaged optics).
- Deep architectural expertise in both Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) and Electronic Integrated Circuits (EIC).
- Proven mastery of link budgeting, optical penalty modeling, and FEC trade-offs for high-speed datacom/telecom links.
- Experience writing detailed PRDs and translating MRDs into strict technical specifications for engineering teams.
- Familiarity with OCI ecosystem and Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) development and compliance.
- Nice-to-have: Previous experience at tier-1 semiconductor or optical networking companies (Intel, Broadcom, Marvell, Cisco, or similar), and experience with 2.5D/3D packaging and thermal challenges in high-density or co-packaged optics.
Education Requirements
MS or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Photonics, Physics, or a closely related technical field.
About the Company
Company: Xscape Photonics
Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, United States
Developer of integrated photonics solutions and instrumentation, specializing in photonic circuits, control systems, and test methodologies for optical communication and sensing applications. Works on device integration, control algorithms, and validation of photonic hardware and firmware.
