Photonics Fabrication and Design Engineer

Acceler8 Talent; Boulder (CO); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Acceler8 Talent is seeking a Photonics Fabrication and Design Engineer to own hands-on device fabrication, process development and design iteration in a Boulder, CO on-site role.

You will lead microfabrication runs, stabilize processes, troubleshoot lithography and deposition, and work on integrated photonic devices, waveguides, couplers and related structures with a strong emphasis on experimental documentation and independent work in a shared cleanroom.

Qualifications

• Hands-on ownership of photonic fabrication runs in a cleanroom.
• Experience with lithography, dry etching, deposition and process development.
• Ability to diagnose failed runs and implement process improvements.
• Experience with passive photonic components and test structures.
• Proficiency with EM simulation and photonic design tools.

Responsibilities

• Own microfabrication and nanofabrication runs for integrated photonics.
• Develop and stabilize repeatable process flows for devices.
• Troubleshoot lithography, etch, deposition, and integration issues.
• Perform failure analysis and correlate process changes with device performance.
• Fabricate integrated photonic devices and related semiconductor structures.
• Design passive photonic components and test structures for fabrication readiness.
• Prepare layouts for fabrication and support optical characterization.
• Improve process yield, documentation, and traceability.
• Contribute to future integration and packaging approaches.

Skills

Hands-on fabrication

Lithography

Dry etching

Deposition

Process development

Failure analysis

Waveguides & photonics components

EM simulation tools

Layout & DRC tools

Cleanroom documentation

Tools

Lumerical

Tidy3D

KLayout

Luceda

Cadence

Job description

Photonics Fabrication and Design Engineer

On-site | Boulder, CO

$140K–$180K base + equity

I’m working with a well-funded deep-tech startup developing a new integrated-photonics platform for advanced computing applications.

They are hiring a Photonics Fabrication and Design Engineer to own hands-on device fabrication, process development and design iteration. This is a fabrication-first position for someone who wants to personally develop hardware rather than work exclusively through external foundries.

You’ll work on problems such as:

• Owning microfabrication and nanofabrication runs
• Developing and stabilizing repeatable process flows
• Troubleshooting lithography, etch, deposition and integration issues
• Performing failure analysis and correlating process changes with device performance
• Fabricating integrated photonic and related semiconductor devices
• Designing passive photonic components and test structures
• Preparing layouts for fabrication
• Supporting optical characterization and design iteration
• Improving process yield, repeatability and documentation
• Contributing to emerging integration and packaging approaches.

Looking for engineers who have:

• Personally owned cleanroom fabrication runs for integrated photonic or closely related devices
• Hands‑on experience with lithography, dry etching, deposition and process development
• Diagnosed failed runs and implemented process improvements
• Worked with passive components such as waveguides, couplers, splitters, tapers or mode converters
• Used electromagnetic simulation tools such as Lumerical, Tidy3D or similar
• Used layout and DRC tools such as KLayout, Luceda, Cadence or related platforms
• The ability to work independently in a shared cleanroom environment
• Strong communication and experimental documentation skills.

Experience with SiN, silicon photonics, superconducting devices, hybrid integration, bonding, foundry transfer, PDK development or process-of-record creation would be particularly relevant.

The role can broaden into photonic design and testing over time, but the immediate priority is someone capable of taking direct ownership of fabrication and process development.

This is an opportunity to establish a foundational technical capability and help move a new photonic platform from early devices toward integrated hardware.