Senior Optical Network Engineer – AI Data Center

MatX Inc.; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 475,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO & holidays

Remote work options

Health & wellness benefits

Professional development

Team meals

Commute support

AI resources budget

Parental leave

Job summary

MatX Inc. is seeking a senior optical interconnect engineer to own end-to-end development of next-generation interconnects for AI scale-up networks. You will drive qualification, productization, and deployment across pluggables, NPO, and CPO architectures.

Responsibilities include evaluating copper/optical connectivity for AI accelerators, performing link budget analyses, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to meet aggressive performance targets in data centers.

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or Photonics.
• 7–12+ years in optical interconnect engineering, with at least 3 years in data center or AI fabric applications.
• Hands-on experience qualifying 400G, 800G, or 1.6T optical modules in production environments.
• Deep knowledge of PAM4 signal theory, SerDes architecture, and optical link physics at 200G per lane.
• Proficiency in optical test equipment: BERT, OTDR, optical spectrum analyzers, sampling oscilloscopes (e.g., Keysight 86100).
• Experience with OIF-CEI, IEEE 802.3dj electrical and optical specs.
• Strong documentation and vendor communication skills.
• Understanding of fiber plant requirements for high-density AI cabling.

Responsibilities

• Validate and productize high-speed copper and optical connectivity for AI accelerator systems.
• Characterize optical modules across integration spectrum for 800G and 1.6T deployment.
• Perform link budget analysis and evaluate metrics like TDECQ and OMA.
• Develop expertise in transceiver components and their failure modes.
• Evaluate SiPh transceivers, VCSEL MMF links, and EML SMF solutions.
• Apply thermal, mechanical, power, and signal integrity constraints to dense hardware.

Skills

PAM4 concepts

SerDes architecture

optical test equipment

link budget modeling

hardware debugging

vendor communication

cross-team collaboration

Education

BS/MS/PhD in EE/Optical/Physics/Photonics

Tools

MATLAB

Python

Job description

MatX Inc. is seeking a senior optical interconnect engineer to own end-to-end development of next-generation interconnects for AI scale-up networks. You will drive qualification, productization, and deployment across pluggables, NPO, and CPO architectures.

Responsibilities include evaluating copper/optical connectivity for AI accelerators, performing link budget analyses, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to meet aggressive performance targets in data centers.