Senior Optical Link Test Engineer

Darwin Recruitment; Santa Barbara (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Darwin Recruitment is partnering with a photonics company in Santa Barbara to hire a Senior Photonics & High-Speed Optical Link Engineer. This hands-on role focuses on testing, characterization and validation of high-speed optical links built around photonic integrated circuits (PICs) across transmitters and receivers.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years of hands-on experience with 100G+ links, PIC-level testing, and strong RF/optical test skills, plus proficiency in Python for automation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Optics, Photonics, Physics or related discipline.
• Master’s degree or PhD preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop, characterise and validate high-speed optical communication links operating at 100G+ per lane.
• Test, debug and troubleshoot PICs at chip level for transmitter and receiver.
• Contribute to PIC design and iterate based on experimental findings.
• Perform high-speed electrical and RF testing, supporting integration with electronics.
• Measure OSNR, dispersion, polarization impairments, jitter, and crosstalk.
• Develop and maintain automated test setups and measurement scripts (Python).
• Document procedures and results; collaborate with design, packaging and systems teams.
• Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership on cross-functional projects.

Skills

100G+ links

PIC testing

Python

RF testing

OSNR

SNR

Data analysis

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor’s degree in EE/Optics/PHysics

Master’s or PhD preferred

Tools

AWGs

Oscilloscopes

VNAs

BER testers

OSAs

Job description

Senior Photonics & High-Speed Optical Link Engineer

About the Opportunity

We are partnering with an innovative photonics company developing advanced integrated optical technologies for next-generation high-speed communications.

The company is seeking a hands-on Senior Photonics Engineer to lead the testing, characterisation and validation of high-speed optical links built around custom photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Working across both transmitters and receivers, you will help translate early-stage designs into robust, high-performance optical links.

This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys working in the lab, understands the communication theory behind optical link performance and thrives in a fast-paced engineering environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, characterise and validate high-speed optical communication links operating at 100G+ per lane.
• Test, debug and troubleshoot photonic integrated circuits at chip level, covering both transmitter and receiver components.
• Contribute to custom PIC design and feed experimental findings back into subsequent design iterations.
• Perform high-speed electrical and RF testing, supporting integration between photonic devices and associated electronics.
• Measure and analyse optical link performance, including link budgets, optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), dispersion, polarisation impairments, jitter, equalisation and crosstalk.
• Develop and maintain automated test setups and measurement scripts, preferably using Python.
• Document test procedures, results and technical findings, collaborating with design, packaging and systems engineering teams.
• Mentor other engineers and contribute technical leadership to cross-functional projects.
• Deliver against demanding development milestones while maintaining rigorous testing and data-quality standards.

Essential Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Optics, Photonics, Physics or a related discipline.
• Master’s degree or PhD preferred.

Experience

• 7+ years of hands-on experience developing, characterising and validating high-speed optical communication links.
• Direct experience with optical links operating at 100G+ per lane.
• Proven PIC-level testing and troubleshooting experience, with a strong understanding of on-chip components such as lasers, modulators, photodiodes, optical amplifiers, couplers and passive optical elements.
• Strong understanding of photonic integrated circuits and RF communication theory, including signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), equalisation and dispersion.

Laboratory & Instrumentation Skills

• Experience with high-speed electrical test equipment, including arbitrary waveform generators (AWGs), real-time and sampling oscilloscopes, vector network analysers (VNAs) and bit error rate (BER) testers.
• Experience with optical test equipment, including optical spectrum analysers (OSAs), tunable lasers, optical power meters, variable optical attenuators (VOAs) and polarisation controllers.

Technical & Professional Skills

• Proficiency in test automation, with Python strongly preferred.
• Strong analytical, data interpretation, documentation and communication skills.
• Excellent organisation and the ability to bring structure to complex or ambiguous technical challenges.
• A proactive approach to problem-solving, with the ability to deliver against tight deadlines.
• Experience mentoring engineers and guiding cross-functional technical initiatives.

Desirable Experience

• Familiarity with coherent optical communication links, including polarisation, phase and coherent digital signal processing (DSP).
• Experience with silicon photonics, indium phosphide (InP) photonics or integrated optical engines.