Photonic IC Design Engineer for Space-Chip Integration

K2 Space Corporation; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical/dental/vision coverage

Paid time off

Paid parental leave

Life insurance

Job summary

K2 Space Corporation is building the largest and highest-power satellites, pushing performance to new frontiers. This role focuses on designing and validating photonic devices and high-speed optical components for space missions across multiple orbits.

You will collaborate with engineers to tapeout PIC devices, simulate photonic circuits, and ensure packaging and RF integration meet radiation and thermal requirements for space environments.

Qualifications

• PhD or MS in electrical engineering, optics, physics, or a related field, or a Bachelor's degree with equivalent experience.
• PIC designs taken through tapeout on one or more commercial integrated photonics platforms, with the fabricated devices characterized in the lab.
• Hands-on work at the chip boundary: optical I/O design with fiber attach or packaging, or high-speed modulator and RF design measured with a VNA.
• Photonic device simulation (Meep, Tidy3D, Lumerical FDTD, FEM, or EME), layout tools (e.g., KLayout, gdsfactory, Cadence), and Python for automation and data analysis.

Responsibilities

• Design, simulate, and lay out PIC devices and circuits from specification to tapeout on commercial integrated photonics foundry platforms.
• Design high-speed modulators, including electrodes, terminations, and RF launches, and co-design with RF and ASIC engineers.
• Implement bias and tuning control in hardware and bring up closed-loop modulator bias and resonator locking.
• Set optical I/O requirements and integrate them into floorplan with chip designers and systems engineers.
• Design the mechanical packaging of the product in 3D CAD, including carriers, V-grooves, and alignment fixtures.
• Drive radiation, thermal-vacuum, and vibration qualification campaigns and translate results into design rules.
• Collaborate with photonics test and automation teams on characterization and data pipelines.
• Carry the high-speed electrical path through the package and present designs at reviews.

Skills

Photonic circuit design

High-speed modulator design

RF interconnects

Photonic device simulation

Python automation

Education

PhD or MS in electrical engineering, optics, physics (or related)

Tools

Meep

Tidy3D

Lumerical FDTD

FEM/EME

KLayout

gdsfactory

Cadence

Python

Job description

K2 Space Corporation is building the largest and highest-power satellites, pushing performance to new frontiers. This role focuses on designing and validating photonic devices and high-speed optical components for space missions across multiple orbits.

You will collaborate with engineers to tapeout PIC devices, simulate photonic circuits, and ensure packaging and RF integration meet radiation and thermal requirements for space environments.