Photonics AI Engineer - Component Inverse Design - Santa Clara, CA

Xanadu; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Xanadu is seeking a Photonics AI Engineer to own component-level design on a fast-paced path-finding team for photonic quantum hardware. You will push toward sub-milli-dB loss and broadband, fabrication-robust operation using agentic AI automation and ML/AI-driven optimization.

You will design, simulate, and optimize passive and active optical components, run large campaigns across FDTD/EME/FEM, and work with layout, fabrication, and test engineers to close the loop from concept to measured

Qualifications

• BSc in Engineering/Physics or related field is required.
• MSc or PhD preferred for advanced research roles.
• Hands-on ML/AI applications to technical problems are essential.
• Experience with tapeouts and validated designs is highly valued.
• Strong Python skills and script/tool development experience.
• Familiarity with EM simulation and solver trade-offs is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Own component design from concept to verified building block, ready for tapeout.
• Apply ML/AI-driven inverse design and optimization to photonic components.
• Run large simulation campaigns across FDTD, EME, FEM and mode solvers.
• Develop agentic AI tooling to manage design loops and results.
• Design for manufacturability to ensure simulated performance transfers to fab.
• Collaborate with layout, fabrication, and test engineers to close the loop.

Skills

AI tooling

Tapeouts

ML/AI problem solving

Python

Electromagnetic simulation

Automation tooling

Education

BSc in Engineering/Physics or related field

MSc or PhD in Engineering/Physics or related field

Tools

Python

FDTD

EME

FEM

Mode solvers

GitHub

Docker

Job description

Xanadu’s mission is to build quantum computers that are useful and available to people everywhere.

At Xanadu, we are learners, innovators, researchers, collaborators and problem solvers. We are creating something that has never been built before. What we are doing is extremely hard, the classic moon shot. Few people in their life will be able to be a part of something like this, where if we are successful, the technologies we develop will solve some of the world’s most challenging problems, and literally change the world. And that is something to be excited about!

Your role and responsibilities:

We are looking for a Photonics AI Engineer to own component-level design on a fast-paced path-finding team at Xanadu. You will design the passive and active components at the heart of our photonic quantum hardware, pushing toward sub-milli-dB loss and broadband, fabrication-robust operation.

You will get there by employing, and building, agentic AI automation and ML/AI-driven optimization. We are looking for a designer who treats their own tooling as a first-class deliverable and moves as fast as AI capabilities do.

You will:

• Own component design from physical concept to a verified building block ready for tapeout.


• Apply ML/AI-driven inverse design and AI-assisted optimization to passive and active integrated optical components.


• Run large simulation campaigns across FDTD, EME, FEM, and mode solvers, with attention to convergence, numerical error, and compute cost.


• Establish agentic AI tooling and processes that carries the design loop: launching simulation campaigns, triaging results, and extracting figures of merit.


• Design for manufacturability from the start, so that simulated performance survives the fab.


• Work closely with layout, fabrication, and test engineers to close the loop from concept to measured wafer data.


• Contribute reusable design and optimization infrastructure to the team's codebase.

At Xanadu, we primarily work with Python and its scientific ecosystem, commercial and open-source electromagnetic solvers, cloud-based high-throughput simulation, GitHub, Docker, and agentic AI tools. Proficiency in these technologies is essential.

Basic qualifications and experience:

• Fluency with modern AI tooling in your day-to-day work (coding agents, LLM-driven automation, or agentic pipelines), and a track record of building your own tools.


• Participated in multiple tapeouts covering design, layout, and post-silicon analysis, with components that were fabricated and measured.


• Hands-on experience applying ML/AI to a technical problem, in any domain.


• Enthusiasm for adopting new AI capabilities quickly and reshaping your own workflow around them.


• BSc in Engineering, Physics, or a related field.


• Strong knowledge of integrated photonic component design, including the sources of loss in photonic devices and their relation to the fabrication process.


• Experience with electromagnetic simulation (FDTD, EME, FEM, mode solvers) and the trade-offs between solver fidelity and computational cost.


• Experience with automated design optimization rather than manual parameter sweeps.


• Strong Python skills: reusable, tested, version-controlled code.


• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with multiple competing priorities.

Preferred qualifications and experience:

• MSc or PhD in Engineering, Physics, or a related field.


• Experience building agentic systems or AI tooling for a technical domain.


• Experience with ML/AI-driven or inverse design of physical systems.


• Experience designing active components such as electro-optic modulators or photodiodes.


• Experience with robust or yield-aware design under process variation.


• Experience executing tapeouts with external photonic foundries.


• Familiarity with quantum photonics or quantum computing hardware.

This is for a new position. Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and internal benchmarks. The base salary range is 160,000 - 210,000 USD. You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Our values are important. They are fundamental and lay the foundation for culture at Xanadu. Learn more about our values here.

We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply. We are committed to building an inclusive, safe, and equitable culture and fostering an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. We are committed to meeting the needs of all individuals and support a barrier-free workplace. Should you require accommodations at any point during the recruitment process please contact Recruiting at [e-mail].

Please be advised that we may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist in the screening and assessment of applicants for this position. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.