Director of Control & Firmware

Langham Recruitment; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Langham Recruitment partners with a cutting-edge photonics company in San Jose to recruit a Director of Control & Firmware who will guide the control architecture and embedded firmware for next-generation optical systems.

The role demands extensive leadership and deep expertise in control theory, real-time embedded systems, and photonics. You will shape technology direction, oversee cross‑disciplinary teams, and drive production readiness from R&D to manufacturing.

Qualifications

• MSc with 15+ years or PhD with 12+ years in EE/Optical Engineering.
• Experience leading control systems and embedded firmware teams.
• Strong knowledge of control theory, PID, adaptive control, and signal processing.
• Experience with lasers, modulators, photonic integrated circuits, and optical measurement systems.
• Proven track record taking advanced hardware products from R&D through production.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture, development, and deployment of control and firmware systems for photonic products.
• Develop control strategies for calibration, initialization, stabilisation, and optimization of optical components.
• Own system-level control architecture across photonics, electronics, ASICs, and embedded firmware.
• Build and scale a high-performing control and firmware engineering team.
• Drive automated optical testing, validation, telemetry, and data-driven performance optimization.
• Lead complex troubleshooting and root cause analysis across development, manufacturing, and field environments.
• Collaborate with senior engineering leadership to influence product strategy and technology direction.

Skills

Control theory

PID control

Adaptive control

Signal processing

Real-time embedded systems

Python

Automation

System validation

Leadership of control/firmware teams

Education

MSc in EE/Optical Engineering with 15+ years experience

PhD in EE/Optical Engineering with 12+ years experience

Job description

Director of Control & Firmware | Photonics & Optical Systems

Location: San Jose

Compensation: $250K - $270K + Equity + Bonus

I’m working with an innovative photonics company developing next-generation optical technologies for high-performance applications, and they’re looking for a Director of Control & Firmware to lead the development of their control architecture and embedded firmware capabilities.

This is a senior technical leadership position with the opportunity to shape both the technology roadmap and engineering organisation, taking sophisticated photonic systems from development through production.

The role will involve:

• Leading the architecture, development, and deployment of control and firmware systems for advanced photonic products.
• Developing control strategies for calibration, initialization, stabilisation, and optimisation of lasers, modulators, optical filters, and integrated photonic systems.
• Owning system-level control architecture across photonics, electronics, ASICs, and embedded firmware.
• Building and scaling a high-performing control and firmware engineering team.
• Driving automated optical testing, validation, telemetry, and data-driven performance optimisation.
• Leading complex troubleshooting and root cause analysis across development, manufacturing, and field environments.
• Working closely with senior engineering leadership to influence product strategy and technology direction.

What they’re looking for:

• MSc with 15+ years’ experience or PhD with 12+ years’ experience in EE, Optical Engineering, or a related field.
• Significant experience leading control systems and/or embedded firmware teams.
• Strong knowledge of control theory, PID, adaptive control, signal processing, and real-time embedded systems.
• Experience with complex hardware products, ideally photonics, optics, optical communications, or high-speed systems.
• Understanding of lasers, modulators, photonic integrated circuits, and optical measurement systems.
• Strong Python, automation, and system validation experience.
• Proven track record taking advanced hardware products from R&D through production.

This is an opportunity for someone who enjoys working at the intersection of photonics, embedded systems, and control engineering, with the chance to build a team and make a meaningful impact on next-generation optical technology.