Principal Optical Engineer

Job Title

Principal Optical Engineer

Role Summary

Principal individual-contributor engineer responsible for architecture, roadmap, and production deployment of next-generation optical interconnects for hyperscale AI infrastructure. The role partners across silicon, packaging, networking, datacenter engineering, and external suppliers to move optical technologies from feasibility to high-volume production.

Experience Level

Senior-level. Typically requires 7+ years of technical engineering experience or equivalent experience; substantial cross-disciplinary architecture and program leadership is expected.

Responsibilities

Deliver architecture, technical leadership, and production readiness for near-package optics (NPO), co-packaged optics (CPO), silicon photonics, and related optical subsystems.

• Own multi-generation architecture and roadmap for NPO/CPO optical interconnects in AI scale-up networks.
• Translate system and network requirements into specifications for bandwidth density, reach, latency, energy/bit, link budget, thermal, reliability, serviceability, manufacturability, and cost.
• Define silicon-photonic subsystem architectures: modulators, detectors, laser strategies, coupling interfaces, fiber attach, and electro-photonic integration.
• Build end-to-end models and budgets linking photonic device performance, SerDes/electrical channels, package parasitics, thermal behavior, and network-level metrics.
• Lead laboratory characterization and debug: optical/electrical measurements, link bring-up, experiments, margin and failure analysis, and correlate simulation with measured data.
• Define verification, qualification, reliability, and manufacturing-test strategies across wafer, die, package, module, board, rack, and system levels.
• Guide proof-of-concept work through design reviews, qualification, manufacturing readiness, supply-chain ramp, and fleet deployment; lead root-cause and corrective actions.
• Drive alignment across silicon, packaging, signal integrity, thermal, mechanical, firmware, networking, manufacturing, and reliability teams and external suppliers.
• Represent technical direction with foundries, OSATs, component suppliers, equipment vendors, and standards bodies.

Requirements

Required knowledge, skills, and conditions; degrees and field details are summarized separately under Education Requirements.

• Deep experience in optical systems, silicon photonics, NPO/CPO, optical engines, modulators, photodetectors, or closely related optical interconnects.
• Hands-on lab experience characterizing and debugging photonic devices, optical links, or integrated optical modules with high-speed electrical and optical test equipment.
• Proven ability to lead architecture or product development across disciplines and lifecycle phases, including requirements, tradeoffs, validation, and issue resolution.
• Experience creating and validating end-to-end link budgets, power modeling, and signal integrity for package/board-level interfaces.
• Experience with advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration (chiplets, interposers, 2.5D/3D, hybrid bonding, fine-pitch assembly) and related manufacturing considerations.
• Experience working with foundries, photonics foundries, OSATs, laser suppliers, fiber-attach and connector vendors, and contract manufacturers to drive roadmap, yield, cost, and supply readiness.
• Strong cross-functional communication skills and ability to present technical risks and recommendations to stakeholders and leadership.
• Ability to meet Microsoft Cloud Background Check and other security screening requirements.
• Must satisfy export-control eligibility (verification of citizenship, U.S. permanent residency, or other protected status) as a condition of employment for access to controlled information.
• Worksite requirement: approximately 3 days per week in-office; travel under 25%.

Preferred (concise):

• Record of ownership of NPO, CPO, or optical I/O from concept to production, industry standards participation, patents, or publications.
• Experience with AI infrastructure interconnects, GPUs/accelerators, Ethernet/InfiniBand/NVLink, or high-bandwidth fabrics.

Education Requirements

Required/Preferred academic credentials or equivalent experience were specified in the source: acceptable qualifications include a Masters or Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field (required-level equivalence: Masters + 7+ years, Bachelors + 8+ years, or equivalent experience). Preferred credentials include a Doctorate (PhD) in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Photonics, Applied Physics, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, or related field (preferred-level equivalence: PhD + 8+ years; other preferred experience thresholds include Masters + 10+ years or Bachelors + 14+ years). "Related field" language and allowance for equivalent practical experience were explicitly stated.

About the Company

Company: Microsoft

Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States

Microsoft is a global technology company that develops and sells software, services, devices, and solutions. Known for its Windows operating system, Office suite, and Azure cloud platform, Microsoft aims to empower individuals and organizations around the world to achieve more. The company fosters a culture of innovation and inclusion, focusing on delivering trusted experiences to customers and partners globally.