Senior Manager

Metric Geo; Texas; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Metric Geo is building out its Austin photonics site and seeks a Team Manager to lead the integrated photonics group from the ground up, focusing on ultra-low-loss PIC platforms. You will hire, mentor and grow engineers across design, fabrication and test, and align the team with headquarters’ objectives.

In this role you will drive the roadmap, set priorities and resourcing, and represent the function to executives, investors and external partners.

Qualifications

• Experience leading integrated photonics teams and hiring engineers.
• Experience across PIC design, fabrication and testing, including full lifecycle (design, layout, fabrication, characterization, packaging).
• Excellent communication across geographically distributed teams.
• Based in Austin, with hybrid work flexibility.

Responsibilities

• Build the Austin integrated photonics team, including hiring, mentoring and growing engineers across design, fabrication and test.
• Define and drive the roadmap for the company’s integrated ultra-low-loss photonics platforms.
• Align design, fabrication and characterization work with headquarters’ goals and timelines.
• Set priorities, schedules and resourcing, balancing near-term delivery with long-term platform development.
• Contribute to technical discussions across the PIC development lifecycle and identify and de-risk technical challenges before they affect programme timelines.
• Represent the integrated photonics function to executive leadership, investors and external partners.
• Work closely with the packaging, test and systems teams so that PICs built in Austin go into deployed systems.

Skills

People management

Technical leadership

Team building

Education

PhD in Photonics/Physics/EE

Job description

Our client is a full-stack photonic quantum computing company. It builds systems for machine learning, generative AI and optimisation, and has delivered multiple systems worldwide and the company is preparing to launch its next-generation system.

The opportunity:

The company is building out its Austin site. The Austin team will deploy the company’s different systems, including the next generation, and will own packaging. It will also develop the photonic integrated circuits (PICs) that act as the processors in the compute systems. As Team Manager you will build and lead this integrated photonics team from the ground up and set its direction. The platform priority is ultra-low-loss photonics in deployed systems.

What you will do:

• Build the Austin integrated photonics team, including hiring, mentoring and growing engineers across design, fabrication and test.
• Define and drive the roadmap for the company’s integrated ultra-low-loss photonics platforms.
• Align design, fabrication and characterization work with headquarters’ goals and timelines.
• Set priorities, schedules and resourcing, balancing near-term delivery with long-term platform development.
• Contribute to technical discussions across the PIC development lifecycle and identify and de-risk technical challenges before they affect programme timelines.
• Represent the integrated photonics function to executive leadership, investors and external partners.
• Work closely with the packaging, test and systems teams so that PICs built in Austin go into deployed systems.

What you will bring:

• Proven people management and technical leadership, including building and scaling technical teams.
• Experience in PIC design, fabrication and testing, with enough technical depth across the full lifecycle (design, layout, fabrication, characterization, packaging) to contribute to technical discussions and make sound decisions.
• Excellent communication skills, including experience coordinating across geographically distributed teams.
• Based in Austin, TX, with hybrid work flexibility.

Nice to have:

• Ultra-low-loss photonics experience, including direct experience with silicon nitride (SiN) platforms.
• PhD in Photonics, Physics, Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• Background in quantum photonics or quantum optics.
• Experience managing distributed or multi-site engineering teams.

Who we are looking for:

• Works both autonomously and collaboratively.
• Communicates well in a commercial setting.
• Growth mindset and results driven.
• Interested in quantum computing and new technologies.