Manager, Passive Components

PsiQuantum; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 201,000 - 237,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

401(k) with company match

Equity grants

Wellness programs

Paid leave programs

Holidays

Job summary

PsiQuantum is seeking a senior photonics leader in the Bay Area to drive passive photonic component development and photonic device design. The role collaborates with device, hardware and software teams to advance photonics and quantum optics technologies.

Strong leadership and deep expertise in electro-magnetic theory are essential. Candidates will guide simulation automation, maintain a photonic device library/PDK, and support tapeouts with design, validation, and data analysis.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in Electrical, Computer Engineering, Material Science, or Physics required.
• 10 years of relevant work or academic research in integrated photonics.

Responsibilities

• Leads the development of passive photonic components.
• Interacts with device, hardware and software design teams to assist in overall development of Photonics and Quantum Optics photonic systems and devices.
• Leads the development of simulation automation techniques and infrastructure to support photonic device design, model development, and performance validation.
• Leads the development of a photonic device library and process design kit (PDK) for passive photonic components.
• Supports foundry tapeouts with photonic device design, design of experiments, layout, device validation, data analysis, failure mode analysis, and troubleshooting.
• Provides multi-disciplinary support to component and systems teams by resolving technical issues.
• Applies quantitative analysis in determining root cause of highly technical problems and proposes, develops and implements solutions for corrective action.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional teamwork

Project management

Analytical thinking

Education

PhD or equivalent in Electrical, Computer Engineering, Material Science or Physics

Tools

Lumerical

Job description

PsiQuantum's mission is to build the first useful quantum computers: machines capable of delivering the breakthroughs the field has long promised. Since our founding in 2016, our singular focus has been to build and deploy million-qubit, fault-tolerant quantum systems.

Quantum computers harness the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that even the most advanced supercomputers or AI systems will never reach. Their impact will span energy, pharmaceuticals, finance, agriculture, transportation, materials, and other foundational industries.

Our architecture and approach is based on silicon photonics. By leveraging the advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry, including partners like GlobalFoundries, we use the same high-volume processes that already produce billions of chips for telecom and consumer electronics. Photonics offers natural advantages for scale: photons don't feel heat, are immune to electromagnetic interference, and integrate with existing cryogenic cooling and standard fiber-optic infrastructure.

That approach has since been tested at the highest level of scrutiny the U.S. government applies to emerging technology, and it has held up. In 2025, PsiQuantum closed a $1 billion funding round that valued the company at $7 billion. In 2026, the U.S. Department of Commerce signed a $100 million Letter of Intent under the CHIPS and Science Act, followed by a $125 million agreement with DARPA under Stage C of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, PsiQuantum's most valuable U.S. government agreement to date. This year, we also broke ground on our utility-scale quantum computer in Brisbane, Australia, and continued building out our Chicago site. Victor Peng, our CEO, and co-founder Jeremy O'Brien, now Executive Chairman, lead a team and board that reflects how seriously the world is taking this build, joined this year by Intel's Lip-Bu Tan and Atomico's Niklas Zennström.

PsiQuantum also develops the algorithms and software needed to make these systems commercially valuable. Our application, software, and industry teams work directly with leading Fortune 500 companies, including Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Mitsubishi Chemical, to prepare quantum solutions for real-world impact.

Quantum computing is not an extension of classical computing. It represents a fundamental shift, and a path to mastering challenges that cannot be solved any other way. The potential is enormous, and we now have the funding, the government validation, and the sites under construction to make it real.

Job Summary:

Quantum computing promises to solve many important problems that could never be solved on any conventional computer. At PsiQuantum, we’re building a general purpose silicon photonic quantum computer to tackle these very problems.

Responsibilities:

Leads the development of passive photonic components.

Interacts with device, hardware and software design teams to assist in overall development of Photonics and Quantum Optics photonic systems and devices.

Leads the development of simulation automation techniques and infrastructure to support photonic device design, model development, and performance validation.

Leads the development of a photonic device library and process design kit (PDK) for passive photonic components.

Supports foundry tapeouts with photonic device design, design of experiments, layout, device validation, data analysis, failure mode analysis, and troubleshooting.

Provides multi-disciplinary support to component and systems teams by resolving technical issues associated with components, parts, products, or systems.

Applies quantitative analysis in determining root cause of highly technical problems and proposes, develops and implements solutions for corrective action.

Experience/Qualifications:

PhD or equivalent in Electrical, Computer Engineering, Material Science, Physics.

Experience

10 years of relevant work or academic research experience in integrated photonics.

2 years of project and/or people management experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Strong leadership and organizational skills.

Strong fundamentals of the design and characterization of photonic devices and circuits.

Strong fundamentals in electro-magnetic theory.

Extensive experience with simulation platforms, particularly Lumerical, for designing and simulating photonic devices and circuits.

Proven team player with an ability to work effectively across departments, sites, time zones.

Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Strong analytical and detail oriented problem-solving skills.

Proven experience executing cross-department complex projects.

PsiQuantum provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. PsiQuantum does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable laws.

Base pay is one part of the total compensation package. Full-time roles are eligible for equity and benefits.Our compensation ranges reflect the cost of labor across multiple U.S. geographicmarkets, and we pay based on defined geographic zones. This position may be filled withinone of the followingU.S. geographic zones, each with its own salary range.

Zone 1 - Bay Area and NYC

Zone 2 - Examples include Los Angeles and Washington DC

Zone 3 - Examples include Austin, Chicago, and Sacramento

Zone 4 - Examples include Nashville and Phoenix/Tempe and many remote locations

This position includes the following benefits:

• competitive health coverage for you and your dependents
• 401(k) with company match
• equity grants
• access to financial wellness tools and planning resources
• wellness benefits
• family support programs
• life and disability insurance
• paid leave programs
• company-designated paid holidays
• discretionary time off (DTO)
• an end-of-year company shutdown

Some of these benefits have eligibility requirements and may vary based on location, role, or employment status. Many of these benefits are subsidized or fully paid for by the company.

The estimated annual base salary range for this role is:

• Zone 1: $201,400—$236,600 USD
• Zone 2: $181,200—$212,900 USD
• Zone 3: $161,100—$189,300 USD
• Zone 4: $140,900—$165,600 USD