Photonics / PIC Engineer

Metric Geo; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Metric Geo in the Midwest United States is seeking engineers to join its deep-tech team focused on next-generation computing hardware that blends quantum physics and AI. The role is fully onsite, welcoming candidates across experience levels who can contribute to photonic design, fabrication and testing.

Ideal candidates will advance photonic devices from modelling to foundry fabrication and experimental validation, or bring hands-on capability in building and maintaining optical test systems.

Qualifications

• PhD or doctoral-level training in a relevant photonics field.
• Experience designing, building and testing photonic devices end-to-end.
• Experience running foundry tape-outs and coordinating fabrication campaigns.
• Ability to lead laboratory projects and manage teams.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and rigorous technical thinking abilities.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and characterize advanced photonic technologies.
• Take photonic devices from modelling and physical design through fabrication and validation.
• Build, automate and maintain optical test and measurement systems.
• Communicate and collaborate across multidisciplinary teams.

Skills

PIC Design

Experimental photonics setups

Foundry tape-outs

Lab leadership

Rigorous technical thinking

Practical problem-solving

Ownership and sound judgement

Education

PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Photonics/ Optoelectronics, Applied Physics / Nanophotonics, or related field

Job description

I am working with a deep-tech company developing next-generation computing hardware at the intersection of quantum physics and artificial intelligence. Its technology focuses on novel quantum computing architectures designed to combine complementary hardware approaches into scalable, fault-tolerant systems, with the potential to accelerate computationally intensive workloads.

The organization brings together expertise across experimental physics, hardware engineering, systems architecture and advanced computation to address fundamental challenges in scalable quantum and high-performance computing.

I am looking for engineers with experience across the design, development and experimental characterization of advanced photonic technologies.

This role is based in the Midwest of the United States and is a fully onsite position. Engineers of all experience levels are encouraged to apply.

The ideal candidates will bring either experience in taking photonic devices from modelling and physical design through foundry fabrication and experimental validation, or strong hands-on capability in building, automating and maintaining reliable optical test and measurement systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and characterize advanced photonic technologies.
• Take photonic devices from modelling and physical design through foundry fabrication and experimental validation.
• Build, automate and maintain reliable optical test and measurement systems.
• Communicate and collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams.

Required Skills

• PIC Design.
• Building experimental/photonics setups independently.
• Experience running foundry tape-outs.
• Lab leadership (including building setups and running projects).
• Rigorous technical thinking.
• Practical problem-solving.
• Ownership and sound judgement.
• PhD in areas including, but not limited to; Electrical & Computer Engineering, Photonics / Optoelectronics, Applied Physics / Nanophotonics, or any other relevant field.

Preferred Skills

• Strong hands‑on capability in optical test and measurement systems.
• Experience in AMO Physics.
• Experience in Optical Physics.