Digital Design Engineer

LightQ; Hamburg; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

LightQ in Hamburg is seeking a hardware engineer to own digital electronics interfacing with photonic building blocks. You will evaluate digital system pipelines and coordinate with experts in optics, lasers, and ML engineering to connect novel hardware to today’s computing systems.

The role requires a broad background in digital compute hardware and system‑level fluency, with a track record of delivering robust interfaces and verification infrastructure in international teams.

Qualifications

• Broad expertise in digital compute hardware including high-speed data pipelines, GPU/AI accelerator, memory systems.
• Extensive system-level hardware and compiler knowledge.
• Thrives in high-energy, fast-paced, international teams.

Responsibilities

• Photonic‑Digital Interfaces — develop interfaces between photonic compute units and memory architectures (HBM, SRAM) and co‑integration with CPUs/GPUs.
• External Coordination — coordinate collaboration with external partners in digital computing.
• Verification Infrastructure — design and build testbenches and reusable verification components for analog/digital interactions.

Skills

Digital compute hardware

System-level fluency

International collaboration

Relentless curiosity

Education

BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or related field

Job description

The demand for AI is rapidly outgrowing the electronic hardware it runs on. At LIGHT Q , we’re building next‑generation computing to unlock sustainable AI: based on light, not electrons, and grounded in ultrafast laser technology, our platform is orders of magnitude faster and far more energy‑efficient.We are a team of internationally recognised scientists, proficient engineers and seasoned operators. We are based in Hamburg, one of the global epicentres of ultrafast photonics.

THE ROLE

At LIGHT Q , cutting‑edge technologies converge: ultrafast lasers, photonics, and electronics, creating next generation computing solutions. Working closely with experts in optics, lasers, integrated photonics, and ML engineering, you own digital electronics hardware interfacing with our photonic building blocks. With a broad background in digital compute hardware, you evaluate and decide on digital system pipelines, and coordinate collaboration with key players in digital computing. You enable connecting novel hardware solutions to today’s computing systems.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Photonic‑Digital Interfaces — Develop interfaces between photonic computing units and conventional memory architectures such as HBM and SRAM, as well as co‑integration solutions with conventional CPUs and GPUs.
• External Coordination — Own technical coordination of collaboration with external partners in the field of digital computing.
• Verification Infrastructure — Design and build testbenches and reusable verification components for analog/digital interactions.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Digital compute breadth — You have broad expertise within digital compute hardware, including high‑speed data pipelines, GPU, AI accelerator, and memory systems.
• System‑level fluency — You have extensive system‑level hardware and compiler knowledge.
• Relentless curiosity — You push requirements, parameters, and methods beyond previously achieved limits, and you thrive working in international teams.
• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or a related field, with 5+ years of work experience.

If you are passionate about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in photonics, working on something that genuinely matters and thrive in a high-energy, fast‑paced environment, we want to hear from you.