Senior Principal Engineer, Silicon Photonics Architect

Job Title

Senior Principal Engineer, Silicon Photonics Architect

Role Summary

Lead architecture and technical execution for silicon photonics platforms that combine photonic integrated circuits (PICs), electronic integrated circuits (EICs), advanced packaging, optical interfaces, firmware, and system control. Deliver pilot demonstrators that prove technology feasibility, manufacturability, and a path to productization.

Provide cross-functional technical leadership, mentor engineers, and communicate architecture and program status to senior technical and business stakeholders.

Experience Level

Senior - requires significant senior-level experience; the role expects approximately 15+ years of hardware engineering experience.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include system architecture, pilot execution, and cross-team technical leadership.

• Own end-to-end architecture for silicon photonics solutions spanning PIC, EIC, packaging, optics, firmware, and host interfaces.
• Translate product and business requirements into technical specifications, performance budgets, interfaces, and executable pilot plans.
• Define and deliver pilot demonstrators to validate optical I/O, co-packaged optics, chiplet connectivity, sensing, or other strategic use cases.
• Establish link and system budgets covering optical loss, laser power, modulation, receiver sensitivity, signal integrity, power, thermal behavior, latency, reliability, and testability.
• Guide PIC and EIC architecture trade-offs including modulators, photodetectors, waveguides, couplers, drivers, TIAs, clocking/CDR, SerDes, ADC/DAC, power management, and telemetry.
• Lead architecture and design reviews; create interface specifications, verification plans, risk registers, and measurable pilot exit criteria.
• Coordinate foundries, advanced-packaging partners, IP/EDA vendors, laboratories, and external collaborators.
• Partner with product, software, design, verification, packaging, test, reliability, manufacturing, and business teams to meet performance, cost, schedule, and quality objectives.
• Mentor architects and engineers and raise technical capability across the organization.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and demonstrable experience. Items marked as nice-to-have are preferred but not required.

• Deep expertise in silicon photonics, photonic integration, or optical communications.
• Proven experience architecting or delivering at least one complex PIC/EIC, optical transceiver, optical I/O, co-packaged optics, or integrated photonics program from concept through silicon or hardware validation.
• Strong understanding of PIC building blocks and passive/active optical behavior, supported by modeling, simulation, characterization, and data-driven trade-offs.
• Strong understanding of high-speed mixed-signal EIC functions and the electrical/optical interfaces between drivers, modulators, photodetectors, TIAs, clocking, control, and digital logic.
• Working knowledge of semiconductor process technologies, PDK-based design, DFM, process variation, yield, reliability, thermal constraints, packaging, assembly, and production test.
• Ability to use or direct photonic, electromagnetic, circuit, link, thermal, and signal-integrity simulation tools and correlate models with measured results.
• Proven technical leadership, problem-solving, clear written and verbal communication, and commitment to execution quality.
• Nice-to-have: experience with co-packaged optics, optical I/O chiplets, pluggable optical modules, data-center interconnects or AI/HPC fabrics, advanced packaging (2.5D/3D, interposers, hybrid bonding), fiber/laser integration, thermal/package co-design, or familiarity with standards such as Ethernet/IEEE, OIF CEI, PCIe/CXL, SerDes, and FEC.

Education Requirements

BTech/BE, MTech/ME, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Photonics, Applied Physics, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field; or equivalent practical experience. The role also expects extensive hardware engineering experience (about 15+ years).

About the Company

Company: Renesas

Headquarters: Hitachinaka, Japan

Renesas is a global leader in embedded semiconductor solutions, providing high-quality products across automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT sectors. With over 22,000 employees in more than 30 countries, the company focuses on scalable solutions that enhance user experience and drive innovation while committed to sustainability and energy efficiency.