Photonics Field Applications Engineer – AI & Datacenter

OpenLight Photonics; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

ISOs

401k matching

Unlimited vacation

Health insurance

Job summary

OpenLight Photonics is seeking a proactive Photonics Field Applications Engineer to drive technical engagement with customers across AI infrastructure, hyperscale data centers, and LiDAR applications. You will lead design-in activities, deliver compelling demonstrations, and collaborate with sales, product, and engineering teams worldwide.

The role emphasizes strong photonics expertise, customer interfacing, and willingness to travel up to 50% globally, supporting 800G and emerging optical

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Optical Engineering, Photonics, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years in Field Applications Engineering, Systems Engineering, Optical Networking, Silicon Photonics, or Optical Module Development.
• Experience supporting hyperscalers, cloud service providers, AI infrastructure companies, networking OEMs, or LiDAR and sensing customers.
• Familiarity with leading AI networking ecosystems and optical interconnect architectures.
• Experience selling into key target markets with a track record of technical influence.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical liaison for strategic customers and partners.
• Deliver technical presentations, product demonstrations, and solution training.
• Understand customer architectures, requirements, and roadmaps to align solutions with business objectives.
• Build trusted relationships with engineering, operations, procurement, and executive stakeholders.
• Provide on-site and remote technical support throughout evaluation, design-in, qualification, and production phases.

Skills

Field Applications Engineering

Optical Networking

Silicon Photonics

Customer Engagement

Travel flexibility

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Optical/Photonics/EE/Physics

Tools

RFQ/RFP experience

Optical test equipment

Job description

OpenLight Photonics is seeking a proactive Photonics Field Applications Engineer to drive technical engagement with customers across AI infrastructure, hyperscale data centers, and LiDAR applications. You will lead design-in activities, deliver compelling demonstrations, and collaborate with sales, product, and engineering teams worldwide.

The role emphasizes strong photonics expertise, customer interfacing, and willingness to travel up to 50% globally, supporting 800G and emerging optical