Principal Silicon Photonics Engineer

Berkner Group; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Berkner Group is seeking a Principal Silicon Photonics Engineer to own photonic chip design end-to-end—from device design through tape-out, wafer-scale test, and packaging. You will be a technical anchor on a small team, setting design standards and driving tape-outs with foundries.

Based in the Bay Area, you will collaborate with EIC, systems, and research colleagues to shape architecture and roadmap, mentor a growing team, and lead high-speed photonics integration and testing for

Qualifications

• 5–10+ years in photonic integrated circuit design and architecture.
• Hands-on PIC design and full end-to-end tape-out experience.
• Proven ability to lead and mentor a small technical team.

Responsibilities

• Design PICs hands-on—from devices to circuits and validated PIC chips.
• Lead full PIC tape-outs end-to-end with commercial foundries.
• Plan wafer-scale testing and packaging; build test structures.
• Break down photonic systems; debug failure points.
• Drive PIC high-speed EIC integration and co-design.
• Run high-speed photonic simulation and modeling to de-risk designs.
• Set design methodology and mentor a small team.

Skills

PIC design

Tape-out experience

High-speed photonics

Team leadership

Education

MS in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or Applied Physics

Tools

Lumerical

Tidy3D

HFSS

Job description

Location Bay Area, CA (onsite — a physical lab/office in the Bay Area)

Type Full-time

About the Company

Our client is a company building revolutionary photonic integrated circuits (PICs) to break the energy and latency limits of AI compute. This is a venture-backed company spun out of leading photonics research, with core IPs and active government and commercial programs. They are a small, fast-moving team building foundational hardware and architecture for the next era of computing.

The Role

As Principal Silicon Photonics Engineer, you'll own photonic chip design end-to-end — from device and circuit design through tape-out, wafer-scale test, and packaging. You'll be a technical anchor on a small team, setting design standards, driving tape-outs across commercial foundries, and working shoulder-to-shoulder with the EIC, systems, and research colleagues. This is a foundational hire: your work will directly shape the architecture and the roadmap.

What You'll Do

• Design PICs hands-on — devices and circuits — and carry them from concept through validated PIC chips
• Lead full PIC tape-outs end-to-end with commercial foundries, including PDK selection and design-rule compliance
• Plan and design for wafer-scale testing and packaging; build in test structures and post-fab validation strategy
• Break down large photonic systems, anticipate failure modes, and debug points of failure
• Drive PIC high-speed EIC integration and co-design (electronics / thermal / packaging)
• Run high-speed photonic simulation and modeling to de-risk designs before fab
• Set design methodology and mentor a small, growing team

Required Qualifications

• 5-10+ years of industry experience in photonic integrated circuit design
• MS in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or Applied Physics
• Demonstrated hands-on PIC design and complex full PIC architecture design and modeling
• Ownership of at least 5 full PIC tape-out through commercial foundries
• Proficiency with device-level photonic simulation/design tools (e.g., Lumerical; Tidy3D or comparable, HFSS)
• Commercial foundry experience — able to speak to products you designed, shipped, and owned
• Silicon photonics experience, including test structures and post-fab validation planning
• Familiarity with most active photonic devices, e.g., diode lasers, modulators, or photodetectors, and nonlinear optics
• Layout experience for wafer-scale testing and for packaging
• Bay Area based, or willing to relocate to the Bay Area

Strongly Preferred

• High-speed photonics simulation and modeling experience (interfacing many high-speed signals)
• Experience integrating with high-speed EICs — PIC/EIC co-design, packaging, thermal, and electronics co-design
• Experience leading a product and project through development on a small team
• A clear track record of real innovation (in graduate work or in industry)

Bonus Points

• PhD in a relevant field
• Integrating photonics with AI tooling (e.g., AI-assisted / scripted layout to accelerate workflow)
• Process development / custom process exposure (III-V on silicon, SiGe, process control monitoring)
• Startup experience — comfort with ambiguity and risk
• Experience with amplifiers and lasers (SOAs) in addition to modulators/photodetectors

Who You Are

• High agency — you do what’s needed without waiting for permission
• Thrive on a small team and enjoy close, hands-on collaboration
• Highly collaborative with colleagues across a diverse range of deep expertise
• Excellent communicator — you can explain complex concepts simply, to technical peers, foundries, customers, and investors

Statement from the Company: Export Control Requirements

To conform with the U.S. Government export regulations, as a condition of employment the applicant must be a (1) U.S. citizen or national, (2) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (a.k.a., green card holder), (3) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, (4) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or (5) otherwise eligible to obtain the required export authorization from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with the company is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin or ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.