Senior Optical Network Engineer - AI Interconnects (Remote)

MatX; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 475,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

4 weeks PTO

Holidays

Remote work up to 3 weeks

Company health insurance

Dental & Vision

Life insurance

Professional development budget

Team meals onsite

Commute on us

MatX Extras: $50/mo

Cell & Internet reimbursement

Mental wellbeing benefit

Parental leave

AI resources budget

Job summary

MatX is seeking an experienced optical interconnect engineer to own design, qualification, and productization for next-gen AI interconnects. You will drive from component characterization through data center deployment, across pluggables, NPO, and CPO architectures.

Responsibilities include vendor due diligence, DP/DS, and end-to-end link budgeting for 800G–1.6T deployments, collaborating with ASIC teams and SI engineers to ensure robust, scalable AI fabrics.

Qualifications

• 7–12+ years in optical interconnect engineering with 3+ years in data center or AI fabric apps.
• Hands-on experience qualifying 400G/800G/1.6T modules in production.
• Deep knowledge of PAM4, SerDes, and 200G per lane physics.
• Experience with OIF-CEI, IEEE 802.3dj specs and fiber plant basics.
• Strong technical docs and vendor communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate and productize high-speed copper and optical connectivity for AI accelerators.
• Characterize optical modules across DSP Optics, LRO, LPO, NPO, and CPO.
• Perform link budget analysis and assess diagnostics like TDECQ and OMA.
• Develop transceiver tech: CW lasers, SiPh PICs, EML, DSP; assess SiPh transceivers.
• Model optical interconnects for AI clusters and 1.6T to 3.2T roadmaps.
• Collaborate with switch ASIC, PCB/ SI, thermal/mech, and NOS/software teams.

Skills

Optical interconnect engineering

Data center / AI fabric

PAM4 theory

SerDes architecture

Link budget modeling

Silicon photonics

Test & validation

Thermal & mechanical constraints

Vendor management

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Electrical/Optical Engineering

Tools

MATLAB

Python

GNPY

OTDR

Optical Spectrum Analyzers

Keysight 86100

Job description

MatX is seeking an experienced optical interconnect engineer to own design, qualification, and productization for next-gen AI interconnects. You will drive from component characterization through data center deployment, across pluggables, NPO, and CPO architectures.

Responsibilities include vendor due diligence, DP/DS, and end-to-end link budgeting for 800G–1.6T deployments, collaborating with ASIC teams and SI engineers to ensure robust, scalable AI fabrics.