Senior Silicon Photonics Design Engineer

Job Title

Senior Silicon Photonics Design Engineer

Role Summary

The Senior Silicon Photonics Design Engineer will design, simulate, and validate silicon photonic integrated circuit (PIC) components for high-volume optical communications products. The role sits within Intel's Integrated Photonics Solutions team and focuses on component-level device design, test-chip development, data analysis, and cross-disciplinary integration to meet performance, power, and reliability targets.

Experience Level

Senior. Typical guidance from the posting indicates multi-year experience in photonics device design and PIC development; expect roughly 4+ years of hands-on photonics design experience (actual requirement varies with academic background).

Responsibilities

Design, simulate, verify, and drive implementation of silicon photonic components and support test and manufacturing activities.

• Design and optimize modulators, passive components, and detectors for PICs.
• Perform tolerance and reliability analyses and identify failure modes.
• Lead test-chip programs: design, layout, tapeout, testing, and validation.
• Analyze test data, identify performance gaps, and iterate on designs.
• Develop and apply modeling and simulation methodologies for components and circuits.
• Research next-generation photonic architectures and contribute to IP development.
• Collaborate with electrical, packaging, and system teams to meet system-level requirements.

Requirements

Must-have skills and experience for this role (education details are summarized separately under Education Requirements).

• Significant hands-on experience in photonics device design and simulation.
• Proficiency with optical design and simulation tools such as Lumerical (FDTD, MODE, DEVICE, Interconnect), RSoft, or Tidy3D.
• Experience in photonic integrated circuit design flow from concept through manufacturing and tapeout.
• Experience with photonic test methodologies and equipment (optical spectrum analyzers, tunable lasers, optical vector analyzers).
• Proficiency with layout tools such as Cadence and KLayout to support PIC tapeouts.
• Experience performing statistical analysis of photonic test data using tools like JMP, Python, or MATLAB.

Nice-to-have:

• Exposure to advanced passive/active components (ring modulators, MZIs, filters, polarization splitters) and inverse-design methodologies.
• Experience with AI-assisted design workflows and circuit-level simulations.
• Knowledge of system-level link modeling, Monte Carlo analysis, and optical coupling strategies.
• Understanding of electronic IC integration with photonic systems (drivers, TIAs, DSPs).
• Strong communication skills for cross-functional presentations.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optical Science, or a related field with ~4+ years of relevant experience; OR Master's degree with ~3+ years; OR Ph.D. with ~1+ years; or equivalent practical experience.

About the Company

Company: Intel Corporation

Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, USA

Intel Corporation is a leading multinational technology company known for its innovative semiconductor solutions, including microprocessors, artificial intelligence accelerators, and memory products. Headquartered in the United States, Intel focuses on cutting-edge technology and a collaborative working environment, driving advancements in semiconductor manufacturing to meet global demands. The company emphasizes professional development and aims to shape the future of technology through groundbreaking designs.