Optical Design Engineer — Silicon Photonics Innovator

Cisco; Allentown (Lehigh County); On-site; USD 138,000 - 198,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental and vision insurance

401(k) with Cisco matching

Paid parental leave

Disability coverage

Job summary

Cisco Systems is seeking a highly skilled Silicon Photonics engineer to own PIC product design from simulation to tapeout and post-Fab validation. You will work with EIC and module teams to co-design optimized opto-electronic chipsets and manage multiple PIC tapeouts per year.

The role emphasizes rapid iteration, hands-on lab work, and development of small test-chips to enable next-generation products, collaborating across cross-functional teams globally.

Qualifications

• Experience in Silicon Photonics circuit modeling, layouts/tapeouts, and fabrication process, including testing and validation.
• Experience with photonic device layouts (passive and active) and GDS generation using Cadence/Virtuoso.
• Lab measurements, data analysis and automation using Matlab, LabVIEW, Python.

Responsibilities

• Own PIC product design cycle from simulation to layout and GDS tapeout with post-Fab validation.
• Collaborate with EIC and module team to co-design optimized Opto-Electronic chipsets.
• Hit multiple PIC tapeouts per year and enable fast product ground-runs.
• Design and own small test-chips within 1–2 years for next-generation products.
• Track designs through design-tapeout-Fab-validation cycle with rapid iteration.

Skills

Silicon photonics modeling

Layouts/tapeouts

Fabrication process testing

Lab measurements

Data analysis

Python

MATLAB

LabVIEW

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

Cadence

Virtuoso

EDA tools

Job description

Cisco Systems is seeking a highly skilled Silicon Photonics engineer to own PIC product design from simulation to tapeout and post-Fab validation. You will work with EIC and module teams to co-design optimized opto-electronic chipsets and manage multiple PIC tapeouts per year.

The role emphasizes rapid iteration, hands-on lab work, and development of small test-chips to enable next-generation products, collaborating across cross-functional teams globally.