Senior/Principal Optical Packaging Engineer

Job Title

Senior/Principal Optical Packaging Engineer

Role Summary

Lead package architecture and assembly strategy for optical interconnect and co‑packaged optics technologies as they progress from research prototypes toward deployable AI infrastructure. Work on a multidisciplinary team at the intersection of optics, photonics, electronics, packaging, thermal, mechanical, and networking engineering.

Role is hybrid (3 days/week in-office in Cambridge, UK). Travel expected to be less than 25%.

Experience Level

Senior-level. The role requires demonstrated industry experience; the posting specifies a minimum of 5+ years in relevant hardware or packaging roles.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include translating system requirements into package solutions and moving technologies toward production.

• Define and influence package architectures integrating photonic devices, electronic ICs/ASICs, interposers/chiplets, optical interfaces, and thermal solutions.
• Translate optical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical system requirements into component specifications, assembly/process requirements, test vehicles, and qualification strategies.
• Collaborate with researchers, Azure/product engineering teams, suppliers, and external partners to prototype, qualify, and scale technologies.
• Drive trade-off analysis and risk management across optics, electronics, packaging, thermal, mechanical, networking, manufacturing, and reliability domains.
• Support supplier qualification, manufacturing readiness, reliability qualification, and failure analysis to enable production deployment.

Requirements

Minimum technical qualifications and hands-on experience required for the role.

• 5+ years industry experience in advanced semiconductor packaging, optical/photonics packaging, heterogeneous integration, electronic packaging, or related hardware technologies.
• Practical experience in packaging and assembly processes such as 2.5D/3D integration, interposers/RDL, fine-pitch interconnects, die attach/bonding, underfill, moulding, adhesives, and thermal management.
• Experience integrating optical/photonics devices with electronic ICs and package structures, including optical coupling/alignment, electrical interconnects, thermal/mechanical behavior, reliability, and manufacturability.
• Hands-on experience in stages of package development and productization: process characterization, design validation, reliability qualification, failure analysis, DFM, and manufacturing readiness.
• Experience working with external manufacturing or technology partners (foundries, OSATs, optical component/module suppliers, equipment or material suppliers), including technical assessments and readiness reviews.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with co‑packaged optics (CPO), silicon photonics, optical engines, lasers, or high‑speed optical interconnects.
• Familiarity with advanced packaging technologies such as CoWoS, SoIC, EMIB, fan‑out packaging, wafer‑level packaging, interposer‑based heterogeneous integration, or chiplet integration.
• Experience with fibre attach, active/passive optical alignment, lens integration, alignment tolerance analysis, or optical link‑budget evaluation.
• Knowledge of package thermal‑mechanical behavior and reliability (stress, warpage, CTE, heat dissipation, adhesion/delamination failure modes).
• Experience developing technologies for AI infrastructure, HPC, high‑speed networking, or datacentre systems.

Education Requirements

Required: Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Preferred: Master’s or PhD in those disciplines.

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.