Senior Staff / Principal Laser Design Engineer
LightmatterJob Title
Senior Staff / Principal Laser Design Engineer
Role Summary
Senior technical leader responsible for architecting and specifying photonic devices and the micro-architecture for a photonic-based communication fabric used in Passage™, a 3D‑stacked data‑center photonics engine. Works across photonics, analog, and system teams to translate device-level designs into validated architectural specifications and practical implementations.
Experience Level
Senior level (principal/staff).
Responsibilities
The role focuses on device- and system-level photonic architecture and close collaboration with design and analog teams.
- Define component- and top-level micro-architecture for a photonic communication fabric.
- Propose innovative photonic device designs (modulators, receivers, multiplexers, lasers, amplifiers).
- Provide performance, power, and area estimates for photonic devices integrated into the Passage platform.
- Collaborate with analog engineering to develop high-bandwidth photonic interconnect solutions.
- Author, review, and validate architectural specifications and design documentation.
Requirements
Must-have technical skills and cross-disciplinary collaboration capabilities.
- In-depth knowledge of photonic devices and semiconductor physics.
- Experience with integrated silicon photonics components.
- Familiarity with photonic simulation and modeling tools is preferred (examples: FDTD, Verilog-A, VPI Photonics).
- Strong problem-solving skills for ambiguous technical challenges.
- Demonstrated ability and desire to collaborate across disciplines (photonics, analog, system engineering).
- Ability to comply with applicable U.S. export control laws and regulations.
Education Requirements
PhD in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, or a discipline related to photonics (required).
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.
