PIC Design Engineer

Opticore; Berkeley (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Opticore in Berkeley seeks a hands-on photonic IC design engineer to own the end-to-end design, simulation, and tape-out of photonic devices integrated into our computing platform. You will partner with EIC, packaging, and measurements teams to deliver silicon photonics solutions.

Responsibilities include device design, verification, and collaboration with foundries to bring chips to silicon, with a strong emphasis on meeting system-level electrical and optical specs.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in photonic integrated circuit design.
• Proficiency in Lumerical, Cadence, Synopsys, and KLayout.
• Experience owning tape-outs from design through tapeout.
• Deep understanding of silicon photonics device physics.
• PhD or postdoc in photonics considered.

Responsibilities

• Design and simulate photonic devices and circuits (waveguides, modulators, detectors, couplers, etc.).
• Own layout, DRC/LVS, and tape-out for photonic designs end-to-end.
• Work across teams to ensure photonic designs meet system-level electrical and optical requirements.
• Interface with the packaging team on photonic assembly and integration constraints.

Skills

Photonic IC design

Tape-out ownership

Cross-team collaboration

Education

PhD or postdoc in photonics

Tools

Lumerical

Cadence

Synopsys

KLayout

Job description

Conventional chips are hitting a wall, and as AI inference demand grows, power consumption is becoming the single biggest constraint on deployment at scale.

Opticore is developing a photonic computing system that accelerates artificial intelligence workloads with exceptional speed and energy efficiency. Opticore is headquartered in Berkeley, California.

About the Role

You will own the design, simulation, and tape-out of photonic integrated circuits at the core of our computing platform. This is a hands-on, end-to-end role — from device-level design through layout, verification, and working directly with foundry partners to bring chips to silicon. You will collaborate closely with our EIC design, packaging, and measurements teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and simulate photonic devices and circuits (waveguides, modulators, detectors, couplers, etc.)
• Own layout, DRC/LVS, and tape-out for photonic designs end-to-end
• Work across teams to ensure photonic designs meet system-level electrical and optical requirements
• Interface with the packaging team on photonic assembly and integration constraints
• Collaborate with the measurements team to define and support device characterization

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in photonic integrated circuit design
• Proficiency in Lumerical, Cadence, Synopsys, and KLayout
• Demonstrated experience owning tape-outs from design through tapeout
• Deep understanding of silicon photonics device physics
• Strong track record in industry; candidates with photonics research backgrounds (PhD/postdoc) will also be considered

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with co-packaged optics or photonic-electronic integration
• Familiarity with high-speed electro-optic modulator design