Senior Silicon Photonics Design Engineer

Job Title

Senior Silicon Photonics Design Engineer

Role Summary

Senior engineer responsible for end-to-end development of silicon photonic components from concept and simulation through layout, tapeout, and characterization. Work at the intersection of photonic device physics, circuit integration, and semiconductor manufacturing to deliver manufacturable, high-performance photonic components for PICs used in LiDAR and optical switching.

Experience Level

Senior-level. The posting specifies senior experience but does not state explicit years of experience.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include component design, simulation, verification, and collaboration with manufacturing and system teams.

• Design, simulate, and optimize passive and active silicon photonic components (switches, waveguides, couplers, splitters, mode converters, photodetectors).
• Perform electromagnetic and multiphysics simulations to refine device geometries and operating conditions.
• Create component layouts and test structures; collaborate with layout engineers to implement and verify designs.
• Drive component development through foundry tapeouts, including design reviews, verification, and coordination with manufacturing partners.
• Analyze optical characterization and wafer-level measurement data to validate designs and guide improvements.
• Translate system-level requirements into component specifications in collaboration with PIC designers.
• Work with foundry partners to understand process capabilities and ensure robust, manufacturable designs.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and attributes for performing the role.

• Strong background in silicon photonic component design, including electromagnetic simulation and device optimization.
• Demonstrated experience designing integrated photonic devices and completing silicon photonics foundry tapeouts.
• Solid understanding of waveguide optics, photonic device physics, and semiconductor fabrication processes.
• Proficiency with photonic simulation tools such as Ansys Lumerical, Tidy3D, COMSOL, or equivalents.
• Ability to analyze experimental characterization data and translate results into design improvements.
• Strong problem-solving skills, technical independence, and ability to collaborate with multidisciplinary teams.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience designing silicon photonic switches, phase shifters, MMIs, mode converters, or polarization-handling devices.
• Experience with silicon nitride waveguides, multilayer photonic integration, or heterogeneous platforms.
• Experience across wavelength bands, particularly O-band and C-band.
• Proficiency in Python or MATLAB for simulation automation, optimization, and data analysis.
• Experience with wafer-level characterization, fabrication variation analysis, or statistical device performance modeling.

Education Requirements

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Photonics, or a related field preferred; an M.S. in a related field with significant relevant industry experience is acceptable. Fields cited include Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, and Photonics.

About the Company

Company: Voyant Photonics

Headquarters: New York, NY, USA

New York City–based company developing compact silicon photonic LiDAR sensors that measure range, velocity, and reflectivity with high accuracy. Uses fingertip-scale silicon photonic chips to produce affordable, high-performance sensors for robotics, autonomous vehicles, drones, industrial automation, and other sensing applications.