CAD/PDK Engineer

OpenLight Photonics Inc.; Santa Clara, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

ISOs

Insurance

401k matching

Unlimited vacation

Spot bonuses

Hybrid schedule

Job summary

OpenLight Photonics is seeking a software engineer to join the Design Enablement team, central to turning photonic chip designs into manufacturable mask data and maintaining automated mask build workflows. You will own PDK automation, mask release, and physical verification tooling, collaborating with process engineers and PIC architects in a hands‑on role.

The role offers a hybrid schedule (three days in office), with a salary range of $130,000–$230,000 annually, plus ISOs, generous insurance,

Qualifications

• BS/MS in EE, CS, Applied Physics, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong Python skills and solid software engineering fundamentals.
• Experience with version control, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile practices.
• Exposure to EDA tool flows or scripting interfaces (SKILL, Tcl, Synopsys ICV, KLayout, IPKISS, GDSFactory) or ability to pick up domain tooling quickly.
• Strong problem solving, communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain automated mask build workflows that assemble PIC designs into GDS artwork, reproducibly and on schedule.
• Build and release the OpenLight PDK: device libraries, parameterized cells, compact models, and symbol/schematic views across our EDA platforms.
• Own physical verification infrastructure.
• Stand up CI/CD pipelines, regression suites, and automated QA to maintain a robust PDK and mask release process.
• Partner with EDA vendors to bring up and validate our PDK on their platforms.
• Work alongside process engineers, device designers, and PIC Architects to turn manual, error‑prone steps into automated workflows.
• Monitor for quality escapes, perform root cause analysis, and drive improvements to prevent recurrence.

Skills

Python

Version control

CI/CD pipelines

Agile development

Education

B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Physics, or related discipline

Tools

SKILL

Tcl

Synopsys ICV

KLayout

IPKISS

GDSFactory

Job description

The Role

This is a software and EDA role at the center of a Silicon Photonics company. If you've worked with CAD or EDA tooling, done mask layout, or verification infrastructure in any semiconductor domain — or you're a strong Python engineer who wants to work close to silicon — we'd like to talk. Familiarity, or a strong interest, with optics or photonics preferred.

Working at the hub of the wheel that is OpenLight’s technology, you will build and maintain the software that turns photonic chip designs into manufacturable mask data. As a key member of OpenLight's Design Enablement team, you'll own the automation behind our process design kit (PDK), our mask build flows, and our physical verification infrastructure — the tooling that we rely on every day.

What You Will Do

• Develop and maintain automated mask build workflows that assemble PIC designs into GDS artwork, reproducibly and on schedule

• Build and release the OpenLight PDK: device libraries, parameterized cells, compact models, and symbol/schematic views across our EDA platformsOwn physical verification infrastructure

• Stand up CI/CD pipelines, regression suites, and automated QA to maintain a robust PDK and mask release process

• Partner with EDA vendors to bring up and validate our PDK on their platforms

• Work alongside process engineers, device designers, and PIC Architects to turn manual, error‑prone steps into automated workflows

• Monitor for quality escapes, perform root cause analysis, and drive the improvements that prevent recurrence

Your Background Includes

• B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Physics, or a related discipline — or equivalent practical experience

• Strong Python skills and solid software engineering fundamentals

• Experience with version control, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile development practices

• Exposure to EDA tool flows or their scripting interfaces — for example SKILL, Tcl, Synopsys ICV, KLayout, IPKISS, or GDSFactory — or a demonstrated ability to pick up domain tooling quickly

• Strong problem solving, communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills

About OpenLight

OpenLight Photonics is an innovative start‑up at the forefront of photonic integration, commercializing our cutting‑edge heterogeneously integrated silicon photonics platform. OpenLight has a PDK that supports customers designing Photonic ASICs (PASICs) for applications in communications, LIDAR, quantum computing, sensing, and more. OpenLight has over 300 patents covering the integration of many different active and passive components, such as tunable lasers, DFBs, SOAs, modulators, switches, filters, and detectors, onto a single, silicon photonics chip. Join us in an exciting start‑up environment with ample opportunities for growth and professional development.

We continue with a hybrid schedule, with a standard of three days/week in office; you select the days you're in, based on what's best for your work priorities. OpenLight's salary for technical roles is dependent on the skills and experience of the individual, their primary work location, and other parameters; annual salary will generally be somewhere between $130,000-$230,000. In addition to cash compensation, OpenLight offers incentive stock options (ISOs), generous insurance support, 401k matching, unlimited vacation, spot bonuses, and a positive work environment. If you are excited about solving challenging problems, advancing cutting‑edge technology, and working with a highly collaborative team, we would love to hear from you.