Senior Staff Electro-Optic Systems Architect
LightmatterJob Title
Senior Staff Electro-Optic Systems Architect
Role Summary
Design and validate end-to-end electrical-optical-electrical (EO-E) links for Lightmatter’s Passage photonics engine. Partner with external-facing teams, product and cross-disciplinary engineering teams to deliver production-ready photonics architecture that meets customer performance, power, and manufacturability requirements.
Work includes system-level modeling, co-design of silicon photonic devices and electronics, hardware testing of high-speed optical modulators/receivers, and communicating results to internal and external stakeholders.
Experience Level
Senior. The posting specifies Ph.D. + 5 years relevant experience or Master’s + 8 years; expects multi-year hands-on experience in electro-optic systems modeling, hardware testing, and RF/mm-wave analog design.
Responsibilities
Primary responsibilities include system architecture, modeling, validation, and cross-team coordination.
- Develop high-performance electro-optic architecture solutions for high-volume products.
- Perform electro-optic system modeling using Cadence photonics-analog simulators (Verilog-A, Spectre, Virtuoso), VPI Photonics, and Keysight ADS.
- Design end-to-end EO-E links to meet customer requirements and production constraints.
- Co-design silicon photonic devices with photonics architecture and design teams based on simulation outcomes.
- Validate models by designing and running high-speed RF/optical experiments, proof-of-concept tests, and analyzing measurement data.
- Collaborate with electronics and photonics engineers to specify, design, and validate circuits that meet performance, power, and production targets.
- Document and present technical results to internal teams and external stakeholders, and represent the company at technical conferences when appropriate.
Requirements
Must-have technical skills and experience; preferred items listed separately.
- Minimum 3 years experience in electronic-photonic-electronic systems simulation.
- Minimum 2 years experience in hardware testing and measurements of high-speed photonic modulators and receivers.
- Proficiency with Cadence photonics-analog tools (Virtuoso, Spectre, Verilog-A), Ansys HFSS, and Keysight ADS.
- Strong coding skills for simulations in Python or MATLAB.
- Advanced RF/mm-wave analog circuit design skills.
- Proven ability to model optical communication links, including signal integrity and SERDES/mixed-signal interfaces.
- Experience with corner analysis and Monte Carlo analysis.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate across photonics and electronics teams and to communicate technical results clearly.
- Ability to comply with applicable U.S. export control laws and regulations.
Preferred / nice-to-have:
- Experience in product development and industry project execution.
- Silicon photonic integrated circuit design and test experience.
- Knowledge of signal processing for optical communications and publication record.
Education Requirements
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering or a similar discipline with at least 5 years of relevant experience, or a Master’s degree with at least 8 years of relevant experience. Fields cited include Electrical Engineering and closely related technical fields.
Benefits
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision; retirement matching; life and disability insurance; generous paid time off and paid family leave; training and development; commuter benefits; hybrid workplace model; equity grants for full-time employees.
About the Company
Company: Lightmatter
Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Lightmatter develops photonic AI data-center infrastructure and optical chips for extreme-scale AI and HPC. The company invented the Passage 3D‑stacked photonics engine to provide high-bandwidth, low-latency interconnects across large-scale processors and raised $400M in Series D financing at a reported $4.4B valuation.
