Principal Engineer Silicon Photonics

Lumilens Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health insurance

Dev opportunities

Cutting-edge tech

Job summary

Lumilens Inc. seeks a Principal Engineer, Silicon Photonics to shape product direction for next-generation optical interconnects. You’ll translate customer needs into technical requirements and drive execution across concept to validation with customers, contract manufacturers, and suppliers.

You will lead packaging, optics integration, and test strategy, working in a fast-paced startup environment to deliver robust performance in real-world systems.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading photonics-based products from concept to production.
• Deep expertise in silicon photonics design, performance, and trade-offs.
• Experience with packaged silicon photonics or optical engine development.

Responsibilities

• Lead product requirements for next-generation optical interconnects with focus on performance, manufacturability, cost and time-to-market.
• Serve as primary technical interface with customers, foundry partners, and suppliers.
• Drive cross-functional alignment across hardware, firmware, software, validation, and manufacturing teams.
• Define testing strategies (EVT/DVT/SVT) and hands-on lab validation.

Skills

Silicon photonics

Packaged optics

Simulation & modeling

Requirements engineering

Leadership

Cross-functional

Test planning

Lab hands-on

Packaging

Product strategy

Education

MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Python

Test automation

Job description

ABOUT LUMILENS

At Lumilens we are building the critical photonics infrastructure that powers tomorrow's AI supercomputing. From chip-to-chip optical interconnects to scalable photonic engines, Lumilens is unlocking a new era of computing, faster, cooler, and massively more efficient.

Lumilens is a well-funded startup backed by Mayfield and led by veterans who've built and scaled some of the most transformative technologies in the industry. This isn't incremental innovation, it's a ground-floor opportunity to rethink the optical layer from the silicon up. You'll work alongside a team of world-class engineers solving some of the hardest challenges in optics, systems, and scale. Every line of code, every design decision, every breakthrough you help deliver will shape the infrastructure of tomorrow.

If you're looking for mission, momentum, and the chance to make an outsized impact jump on the rocket ship. We’re just getting started.

POSITION OVERVIEW

We are seeking a Principal Engineer, Silicon Photonics to join our rapidly growing team. This is a high-impact leadership role for someone who can shape product direction, translate customer needs into clear technical requirements, and drive cross-functional execution from concept through validation. The ideal candidate brings deep experience with packaged silicon photonics, including optical engine integration, assembly flows, and manufacturing considerations for next-generation optical interconnect products. The successful candidate will work closely with customers, contract manufacturers, suppliers, and internal development teams to meet product objectives while instilling a culture of quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead Product Definition: Own and drive product requirements for next-generation optical interconnects, balancing performance, manufacturability, cost, power, and time-to-market.
• Be the Customer and Product Voice: Serve as the primary technical interface with customers, foundry partners, and suppliers, ensuring product decisions are grounded in real-world use cases, market needs, and execution realities.
• Drive Cross-Functional Alignment: Create and own clear product requirements, aligning internal engineering teams, external partners, and key stakeholders around priorities, trade-offs, milestones, and deliverables for packaged optics solutions.
• Analyze and Optimize: Perform critical link analysis, using simulation and modeling to assess impairments like noise and distortion, ensuring our products deliver robust performance in real-world systems.
• Translate System Goals into Execution: Convert top-level product objectives into actionable requirements for silicon photonics, electronics, firmware, software, validation, and manufacturing partners.
• Lead Packaged Optics Execution: Guide the development of packaged silicon photonics solutions, including co-packaged optics and optical I/O approaches, with attention to assembly tolerances, fiber attach, thermal constraints, test strategy, reliability, and scale-up readiness.
• Validate: Define the complete testing strategy, from engineering verification and product validation to system integration. You will define test methodologies, select equipment, and be hands‑on in the lab to bring our products to life.

Who You Are:

• A seasoned technical leader with deep hands‑on expertise in silicon photonics and packaged optics, with a strong track record of bringing complex products from concept to production.
• A natural collaborator who thrives in a multi‑disciplinary, geographically diverse team environment.
• A strategic product thinker who can synthesize customer requirements, technical constraints, and business priorities into clear decisions and execution plans.
• A leader who is just as comfortable presenting a technical roadmap to executives as you are setting up an experiment in the lab.

Key Qualifications:

• Proven experience in a principal‑level technical leadership role developing and delivering photonics-based products.
• Deep expertise in silicon photonics design, performance characteristics, and trade‑offs.
• Direct experience with packaged silicon photonics or optical engine development, including packaging trade‑offs, integration constraints, and manufacturing considerations.
• Demonstrated ability to perform optical link budget analysis using simulation and modeling.
• Experience defining product requirements and driving execution across hardware, firmware, software, validation, and manufacturing teams.
• Experience defining test plans (EVT, DVT, SVT) and test methodologies for optical systems.
• Ability to work effectively and drive decisions within a fast‑paced, startup environment.
• Must be hands‑on in a lab environment.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience with test automation frameworks and scripting (e.g., Python).
• Direct experience working with hyperscale data center customers or suppliers on packaged optics, co-packaged optics, or optical I/O solutions.
• Experience with fiber attach technologies, optical assembly processes, and package-level integration challenges for silicon photonics products.

Why Join Us?

This is more than a job. It’s a chance to get in on the ground floor of a well-funded company set to disrupt a multi-billion dollar market. You will have the autonomy to make a massive impact, the resources to execute your vision, and a significant stake in the company you help build.

What we offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Comprehensive benefits package including health insurance
• Professional development opportunities and certification support
• Access to cutting‑edge technology and cloud platforms