Photonics AI Engineer - Fabrication-Aware Design - Santa Clara, CA

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

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Xanadu is hiring a Photonics AI Engineer to own fabrication-aware design on a fast-paced team. You will translate process constraints into design language, calibrate models with wafer data, and build AI tooling to turn metrology into design changes.

Proficiency with Python, GitHub, Docker, and cloud compute is essential. You’ll work with ML/AI specialists to drive process-design co-optimization and lead failure analysis while collaborating across design and fabrication teams in a dynamic,

Qualifications

• Fluency with modern AI tooling and agentic workflows.
• Experience in multiple tapeouts with design decisions or DOE input.
• Strong Python skills and data-driven mindset.
• Excellent collaboration with ML/AI teams and design/process audiences.

Responsibilities

• Bridge fabrication and design translating process constraints into design language.
• Own fabrication-aware layer of design methodology including layer stacks and bias targets.
• Calibrate process models against wafer data for CD, edge bias, and lithographic rounding.
• Define tolerance and yield budgets and assess design robustness.
• Contribute test structures to fabrication experiments and DOEs.
• Turn metrology and yield data into design changes with AI tooling.
• Lead failure analysis distinguishing design error from process excursion.

Skills

AI tooling

Tapeouts

Python

Communication

Education

BSc in Physics

MSc/PhD in Physics

Tools

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 fabrication-aware design on a fast-paced path-finding team at Xanadu. You will be the design team's authority on what the process does to a design: layer stacks, geometry translation from drawn to fabricated, tolerance budgets, material behaviour, and the failure modes that only appear at wafer scale.

Working closely with fabrication process engineering, you will turn what happens on the wafer into design insight. Much of this is a data problem at a scale that rewards automation, so we expect you to lean heavily on AI tooling.

You will:

• Bridge fabrication and design, translating process constraints into design language and design requirements into process language.
• Own the fabrication-aware layer of our design methodology: layer stacks, geometry translation, bias and CD targets, corner definitions, and design rules grounded in measured process capability.
• Keep process models calibrated against real wafer data, covering effects such as CD and edge bias, sidewall angle, etch depth, film non-uniformity, and lithographic rounding.
• Define tolerance and yield budgets, and assess design robustness against process variation.
• Contribute design requirements and test structures to fabrication experiments and DOEs.
• Turn inline metrology, wafer-level optical test, imaging analysis, and yield data into design changes, building AI tooling for that loop.
• Lead failure analysis, separating design error from process excursion.

At Xanadu, we primarily work with Python and its scientific ecosystem, GitHub, Docker, cloud compute, 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 with responsibility for fabrication-aware design decisions, DOE input, or post-silicon analysis.
• Enthusiasm for adopting new AI capabilities quickly and reshaping your own workflow around them.
• Comfort collaborating with ML/AI specialists on data-driven models for process and measurement data.
• BSc in Physics, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Solid understanding of integrated photonics fabrication and its impact on optical performance.
• Hands-on experience driving process-design co-optimization with fabrication teams.
• Working knowledge of semiconductor and photonics metrology and failure analysis, including at least two of: SEM, TEM, AFM, ellipsometry, XRR/XRD, SIMS, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence.
• Experience with statistical analysis of wafer-level data and yield.
• Strong Python skills applied to real data pipelines.
• Excellent communication skills across design and process audiences.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with multiple competing priorities.

Preferred qualifications and experience:

• MSc or PhD in Physics, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience building agentic systems or AI tooling for a technical domain.
• Experience with integrated photonics fabrication using electro-optic materials such as thin-film lithium niobate.
• Demonstrated track record of achieving low loss in integrated photonic components.
• Experience with ML/AI or computer vision applied to microscopy, metrology, or inspection data.
• Experience working with external foundry partners on process qualification and technology transfer.
• 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.