Senior Optical Engineer

TRIA; Leeds; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous time off

Job summary

TRIA is seeking a Senior Silicon Photonics Engineer in the UK to own the wavelength division multiplexing architecture for a high-speed photonic interconnect and compute platform. You will shape the product by defining the wavelength plan, channel spacing and power budget, and drive from spec to silicon.

You will work closely with device, PIC, analogue front-end, layout and packaging engineers to ensure successful tapeouts and robust designs across process and temperature corners.

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc in photonics, electronic engineering, physics or related field.
• Experience in silicon photonics or integrated optics with successful tapeouts.
• Strong knowledge of WDM link design, resonant devices and thermal tuning.

Responsibilities

• Own wavelength plan, channel spacing and power budget.
• Compare AWG vs micro-ring approaches for power, yield and control.
• Simulate across process, wavelength and temperature corners.
• Deliver foundry-ready layouts and test structures.

Skills

PhD in photonics

WDM design

AWG design

Photonic circuit simulation

Tapeouts experience

Foundry PDKs

Education

MSc/PhD in photonics

Tools

PDK layout verification

Job description

A UK deep-tech scale-up is building programmable silicon photonic technology that performs compute directly within the data path. That cuts the cost of moving data around and opens up new capability for AI, cybersecurity and scientific workloads. It's a small, highly technical team working on genuinely hard problems, with real silicon at the end of it.

They're hiring a Senior Silicon Photonics Engineer to own the wavelength division multiplexing architecture for their multi-wavelength, high-speed photonic interconnect and compute platform. If the WDM plan is right, everything downstream works, so this is a role that shapes the product.

What we're after

• MSc or PhD in photonics, electronic engineering, physics or similar
• Silicon photonics or integrated optics design experience, with successful tapeouts
• Strong WDM link design, resonant devices and thermal tuning knowledge
• Hands-on AWG, echelle grating or comparable multiplexer design and characterisation
• Photonic circuit simulation, foundry PDKs and layout verification flows

What's in it for you?

• Ownership of a core architecture, from spec to first silicon
• Generous time off
• Start-up pace, where your design decisions go straight into silicon

You'll define the wavelength plan, channel spacing and power budget. You'll then weigh up AWG against micro-ring approaches on power, yield and control complexity. From there, it's simulation across process, wavelength and temperature corners, followed by foundry-ready layouts and test structures.

You'll work closely with device, PIC, analogue front-end, layout and packaging engineers. You'll own foundry signoff for WDM functions and get stuck into first-silicon characterisation and debug.

If you've taped out photonics and would rather set the architecture than inherit it, let's talk.