Senior Photonics Design Engineer - PICs & Optical Devices

Salience Labs Ltd; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Salience Labs Ltd in Oxford is seeking an experienced photonics professional to design, simulate, and optimise high-performance PIC components for silicon photonics platforms. You will collaborate with layout and testing teams to drive device performance and contribute to future tape-outs.

The role requires a PhD (or equivalent) in Photonics or related fields, strong theoretical optics knowledge, and hands-on experience with photonic design tools. Senior/Lead/Principal levels are considered.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in Photonics, Physics, Optical/Electrical Engineering, or closely related field.
• Strong theoretical understanding of guided optics and photonic device physics.
• Hands-on experience designing and simulating integrated photonic components.
• Experience with silicon photonics or InP platforms.
• Strong analytical and mathematical problem solving ability.
• Track record of technical contributions via publications, patents, or shipped tech.
• Experience using photonic simulation tools and modelling workflows.
• Python programming for simulation, analysis, or automation.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimise integrated photonic components for silicon photonics and related PIC platforms.
• Perform electromagnetic simulations, modelling, and theoretical analysis to improve device performance.
• Validate simulation results against experimental measurement data.
• Develop innovative component designs informed by current research and emerging techniques.
• Collaborate with layout engineers to integrate components into PDK libraries and tape-out flows.
• Work closely with fabrication and testing teams to iterate on device performance.
• Contribute to the development roadmap for future photonic components and architectures.
• Support long term improvements in PIC loss, manufacturability, and scalability.
• Participate in technical discussions, design reviews, and cross functional problem solving.
• Stay current with advances in integrated photonics through research literature and conferences.

Skills

Photonic design

EM simulations

PIC platforms

Silicon photonics

Python scripting

Layout collaboration

Education

PhD or equivalent

Tools

Python

Lumerical

Cadence

Job description

Salience Labs Ltd in Oxford is seeking an experienced photonics professional to design, simulate, and optimise high-performance PIC components for silicon photonics platforms. You will collaborate with layout and testing teams to drive device performance and contribute to future tape-outs.

The role requires a PhD (or equivalent) in Photonics or related fields, strong theoretical optics knowledge, and hands-on experience with photonic design tools. Senior/Lead/Principal levels are considered.