Photonics Fabrication and Design Engineer

Great Sky; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

401(k) match

Health, dental, vision, and life ins.

Flexible PTO

Learning and development

Job summary

Great Sky in the United States is seeking a Photonics Fabrication and Design Engineer to own the R&D prototyping lifecycle for cryogenic photonic networks. You will fabricate devices in a research cleanroom near Boulder and drive manufacturable SiN photonic components from concept to POR.

The role offers high ownership, opportunities to influence hardware direction, and collaboration with test, packaging, and systems teams to accelerate design-build-test-learn cycles in a fast-moving startup

Qualifications

• BS, MS or PhD in physics, electrical engineering, optics, materials science, or equivalent practical experience.
• Hands-on microfabrication, nanofabrication, or semiconductor processing experience.
• Experience with silicon photonics, silicon nitride, or superconducting electronics.
• Strong background in passive photonic component design and EM simulation tools.
• Knowledge of photonic layout, DRC, and common layout tools is required.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end prototype fabrication runs in a research cleanroom environment.
• Develop, execute, and optimize manufacturable fabrication processes for integrated photonic devices and SNSPDs.
• Design, simulate and optimize passive SiN photonic components (grating couplers, splitters, etc).
• Establish SOPs and PORs for stable processes.
• Contribute to internal Process Design Kits and component libraries.
• Collaborate with test, packaging, and systems teams to correlate device performance with fabrication metrics.

Skills

Hands-on microfabrication

Photonic design

Electromagnetic simulation

DRC & layout concepts

Collaboration with test/pkg/systems

Education

BS, MS or PhD in physics, electrical engineering, optics, materials science

Tools

Ansys/Lumerical

Tidy3D

KLayout

Luceda

Cadence

Job description

About Us

Great Sky is a technology startup based with a mission to rebuild AI from first principles. We are pursuing neuroscience-inspired hardware and algorithms that overcome the greatest challenges in scaling AI systems.

Job Overview

We are seeking a highly motivated Photonics Fabrication and Design Engineer to develop the cryogenic photonic networks central to our technology platform. In this role, you will contribute to the design of SiN-based passive photonic components and take full ownership of the R&D prototyping lifecycle. You will perform hands-on device fabrication at a cleanroom facility located near our Boulder office. This is a high-ownership position with substantial influence on the pace and direction of our hardware development.

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end prototype fabrication runs in a research cleanroom environment.

• Develop, execute, and optimize manufacturable fabrication processes for integrated photonic devices and superconducting devices, including SNSPDs.

• Design, simulate and optimize passive silicon nitride (SiN) photonic components such as (e.g., grating couplers, splitters, mode converters, edge couplers and optical I/O).

• Establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) and process flows into stable Processes of Record (POR).

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of internal Process Design Kits (PDKs) and component libraries.

• Work closely with test, packaging, and systems integration teams to correlate device performance with fabrication metrics, accelerating our design-build-test-learn cycles.

Qualifications & Skills

Required:

• BS, MS or PhD in physics, electrical engineering, optics, materials science, or a related field; or equivalent practical experience.

• Hands-on experience in microfabrication, nanofabrication, or semiconductor processing.

• Experience with fabricating devices on at least one of these platforms: silicon photonics, silicon nitride, and/or superconducting electronics.

• Strong background in passive photonic component design with proficiency in industry-standard electromagnetic simulation software (e.g., Ansys Lumerical, Tidy3D).

• Solid understanding of photonic layout concepts, Design Rule Checking (DRC), and familiarity with standard layout tools (e.g., KLayout, Luceda, Cadence).

Preferred:

• Experience with SNSPD fabrication.

• Experience with heterogeneous or hybrid integration methods such as bump bonding or fusion bonding.

• Experience transferring processes to external fabs or working with foundries.

• Previous fabrication background utilizing shared, multi-user facilities such as university cleanrooms, national laboratories, or advanced commercial R&D centers.

Benefits and Perks

• Meaningful equity ownership in an early-stage deep tech company

• Employer-matched 401(k)

• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance

• Flexible PTO

• Support for ongoing learning, conference attendance, and skill development

Our culture is onsite by default (we’re founded by scientists who are used to working in the lab), with flexibility for hybrid arrangements. For the right person and role, we’re open to filling roles remotely