Sr. Photonics Design Engineer

Xanadu; Toronto; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Xanadu is hiring for a role in the photonic integration team in Canada. You will develop cutting-edge passive and active optical components used throughout Xanadu's fault tolerant architecture, leveraging cloud-based simulation to optimize designs with 200mm and 300mm foundry processes.

Ideal candidates hold MSc/PhD with 2+ years in industry, deep expertise in photonic components, and experience with design for manufacturing and scripting for mask design. Equity and benefits available.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in engineering/science with 2+ years industry exp.
• Expertise in passive integrated optical components incl. wafer variation.
• Understanding of loss sources and fabrication impacts.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize passive/active photonic components for Xanadu's architecture.
• Utilize cloud simulation pipelines and DOEs to explore design tradeoffs.
• Collaborate with fabrication partners and use DFMs to close the design loop.

Skills

Passive photonic design

Wafer variation analysis

Optical loss mechanisms

Simulation methods

Photonic mask design scripting

Git collaboration

Multi-priority management

Education

MSc or PhD in Engineering/Science

Tools

Git

Job description

Xanadu’s mission is to build quantum computers that are useful and available to people everywhere.

At Xanadu, we are learners, innovators, researchers, collaborators and problem solvers. We are creating something that has never been built before. Few people in their life will be able to be a part of something like this, where if we are successful, the technologies we develop will solve some of the world’s most challenging problems, and literally change the world. And that is something to be excited about!

Your role and responsibilities:

The successful candidate will work within the photonic integration team to develop cutting-edge passive and active components used throughout Xanadu's fault tolerant architecture. The candidate will take advantage of internally developed cloud simulation pipelines to effectively determine novel design strategies. Particular emphasis will be based on the execution of design of experiments (DOEs), while applying design for manufacturing (DFMs) concepts, exploring performance tradeoffs with Xanadu's 200mm and 300mm fabrication partners. They will gain experience with state-of-the‑art foundry processes, while utilizing scalable analysis pipelines to make decisions and close the design loop. The candidate will need to use their deep understanding of analysis and simulation techniques to create sub milli dB loss components.

Basic qualifications and experience:

• Msc or PhD in Engineering, Science, or related field, with 2+ years experience in an industrial setting
• Expert-level knowledge and experience designing passive integrated optical components including the incorporation of wafer variation
• Detailed understanding of sources of loss in photonic devices and their relation to fabrication processes
• Understanding of the tradeoff between different simulation approaches including sources of error and computational resource use
• Deep experience with scripted photonic mask design
• Experience working in a collaborative team‑based development environment, preferably using version control systems such as git
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple competing priorities

Preferred qualifications and experience:

• Expert-level knowledge and experience in designing active integrated optical components such as pockel’s effect based phase shifters, or III‑V photodiodes
• Experience in developing components and performing tapeouts with photonic foundries.
• Understanding of the concepts of “Design of Experiments” and “Design Centering” applied to wafer level photonic components
• Experience developing automated optimization approaches, such as particle swarm, bayesian and adjoint method
• Incorporation of fabrication processes effects such as lithographic rounding, OPC/bias correction and material non uniformity into component optimization
• Deep theoretical understanding of coupled mode interactions in the context of waveguides, resonators and nonlinear optics

This is for a new position. Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and internal benchmarks. The base salary range is 120,000 - 170,000 CAD. You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Our values are important. They are fundamental and lay the foundation for culture at Xanadu. Learn more about our values here.

We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply. We are committed to building an inclusive, safe, and equitable culture and fostering an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. We are committed to meeting the needs of all individuals and support a barrier‑free workplace. Should you require accommodations at any point during the recruitment process please contact Recruiting at [e-mail].

Please be advised that we may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist in the screening and assessment of applicants for this position. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.