Systems Applications Engineer - Optical

Job Title

Systems Applications Engineer - Optical

Role Summary

The Systems Applications Engineer (Optical) will support deployment and integration of high-speed optical interconnects for next-generation AI networking platforms, focusing on 800G and 1.6T transceivers and 51.2T-class switches. The role interfaces directly with customers for system bring-up, debugging, performance tuning, and technical leadership across product, silicon, and ecosystem partners.

Experience Level

Mid-level. The posting does not state a specific years-of-experience requirement; candidates are expected to have substantial hands-on experience with high-speed optical modules, DSP bring-up, and switch/system integration.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities involve customer-facing technical leadership, system integration, and cross-functional coordination for optical interconnect deployments.

• Provide expert technical support for 51.2T and next-generation switch architectures, emphasizing 800G and 1.6T optical transceivers.
• Serve as the primary customer-facing technical lead and translate customer requirements into system-level solutions.
• Debug and resolve interoperability issues across switches, DSPs, and high-speed optical modules.
• Lead customer demos, evaluations, and hands-on system bring-up including switch configuration, link validation, and performance tuning.
• Collaborate with optical, ASIC, hardware, software, mechanical, and thermal engineering teams to ensure product integration.
• Partner with silicon, EIC, and system teams to support end-to-end bring-up from chip to module and system levels.
• Engage external partners (foundries, ASIC vendors, module partners) to align on integration and performance targets.
• Contribute to industry standards efforts and track emerging trends in AI networking and optical interconnects.
• Operate effectively across global, distributed teams to drive alignment and execution.

Requirements

Required technical skills and experience. Education requirements are listed separately below.

Must-have:

• Deep understanding of optical transceiver architecture, configuration, and performance characteristics.
• Extensive hands-on experience with DSP bring-up, transceiver configuration, and high-speed link debugging.
• In-depth familiarity with AI networking switch architectures and Layer 1/Layer 2 configurations.
• Hands-on experience with 800G optical modules and 51.2T-class switches; experience with 1.6T and next-gen systems preferred.
• Solid understanding of ASIC architectures and system integration; chip-level and EIC-level experience is a strong advantage.
• Experience interfacing with foundries and knowledge of semiconductor development and manufacturing flows.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally and with customers; strong analytical and communication skills.
• Experience supporting AI infrastructure deployments at scale (intra-node and cluster/fabric architectures).
• Deep experience with CPO/NPO architectures and EOC-level system tradeoffs and integration considerations.

Nice-to-have:

• Prior involvement in industry standards bodies (e.g., MSA).
• Experience at a leading optical transceiver or networking systems company.
• Experience building and managing ecosystem partnerships and evaluating partner capabilities.

Education Requirements

Master’s degree or higher in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field.

About the Company

Company: Lumilens

Headquarters: San Jose, CA, USA

Lumilens develops integrated photonics and optical interconnect solutions for high-speed data communication and chip-to-chip interfaces, focusing on optical front-end hardware and co-packaged optics for advanced semiconductor systems.