Silicon Photonics Systems Test Engineer – Optical Circuit Switches (OCS)

Job Title

Silicon Photonics Systems Test Engineer – Optical Circuit Switches (OCS)

Role Summary

Join the Systems Team reporting to the System Integration Lead to develop and validate Voyant's optical circuit switch (OCS) architecture from early technical derisk through proof of concept. The role focuses on building test benches, characterizing early chips and prototypes, and converting measurements into design decisions.

Experience Level

Mid-level. Role expects approximately 4+ years of hands-on experience in photonic or optical test, characterization, or early-stage technology derisking; exceptional candidates with different experience levels may be considered.

Responsibilities

Deliver rapid experiments and scalable test infrastructure to validate OCS performance and guide design iterations.

• Plan and execute derisk experiments on silicon photonic test chips and subsystems.
• Characterize optical performance across switch paths: insertion loss, crosstalk, extinction ratio, polarization and wavelength dependence, and switching time.
• Correlate measurements with device, circuit, and system models; document discrepancies and provide physical explanations.
• Identify and measure indicators that predict performance scaling with port count (per-element variation, neighbor crosstalk, calibration effort).
• Design, build, and automate OCS test benches with approaches that scale to higher port counts.
• Produce clear test reports and hypotheses that drive design decisions and inform specification limits.
• Collaborate with photonics design, modeling, controls, electronics, and firmware teams, and coordinate with LiDAR program peers.
• Switch between rapid exploratory experiments and disciplined, repeatable characterization workflows.

Requirements

Must-have skills and experience for success in this hands-on test engineering role.

• 4+ years of hands-on photonic or optical test, characterization, or early-stage technology derisking experience.
• Practical experience with optical lab equipment: tunable lasers, optical power meters, optical spectrum analyzers, polarization controllers; plus fiber handling and coupling and standard electrical test equipment.
• Experience automating test equipment and processing/analyzing large datasets.
• Proficiency in Python for test automation and data analysis.
• Comfort working closely with models and simulations; able to design experiments that validate model assumptions and explain discrepancies physically.
• Strong systems-level thinking and ability to apply physics/engineering fundamentals to debug complex, ambiguous problems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to turn raw data into actionable reports and hypotheses.
• Self-starter mindset; able to operate with minimal formal process and define structure where needed.
• Must be able to work on-site in the New York office.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience testing silicon photonic integrated circuits, optical switches, or datacom/telecom optical modules.
• Familiarity with photonic simulation tools (e.g., Lumerical or similar).
• Experience with wafer- or die-level probing and high-channel-count test setups.
• Experience automating motorized stages or fiber alignment systems.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree (BS) in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optics, or a related field is expected. Master's or PhD in a related field is a plus.

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.