Senior Photonics Engineer: Co-Packaged Optics Tape-Out

Ayar Labs, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Ayar Labs, San Jose on-site is looking for a photonics design engineer to work on the devices at the heart of our co-packaged optics (CPO) solution. You will design, simulate, and characterize integrated photonic components for an aggressive optical I/O product roadmap.

You will contribute to real tape-outs, develop compact models from measurement data, and build tools and infrastructure the team depends on. The team is small, so your contributions land in product quickly and with impact.

Qualifications

• B.S. or equivalent in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or related field.
• 2+ years of experience in silicon photonics or integrated photonic device design (research or commercial).
• Solid understanding of photonic device physics: waveguides, couplers, gratings, micro-ring resonators.
• Experience with simulation tools for passive optical devices (e.g., FDTD, mode solvers).
• Python skills; experience writing structured code in a team environment.
• Ability to connect simulation to measurement — design, characterize, and iterate on device performance.

Responsibilities

• Design integrated photonic components needed for an aggressive optical I/O product roadmap — passive devices (couplers, gratings, micro-ring resonators) and the system context that sets their requirements.
• Characterize and iterate — plan test vehicles, use measurement data to refine simulation models, and drive device performance toward roadmap targets.
• Build infrastructure — extend simulation automation, layout scripts, and data analysis tools that make the whole team faster.
• Collaborate — work with colleagues across packaging, laser, circuits, and firmware to understand system requirements and translate them into device specifications.
• Support manufacturability — work with foundry process data to assess design margins, contribute to design-for-manufacturability, and support yield improvement on new device designs.

Skills

Silicon photonics

Device design

Python

Simulation tools

Education

Bachelor's degree in EE/Optical

MS/PhD a plus

Tools

FDTD

Mode solvers

Job description

Ayar Labs, San Jose on-site is looking for a photonics design engineer to work on the devices at the heart of our co-packaged optics (CPO) solution. You will design, simulate, and characterize integrated photonic components for an aggressive optical I/O product roadmap.

You will contribute to real tape-outs, develop compact models from measurement data, and build tools and infrastructure the team depends on. The team is small, so your contributions land in product quickly and with impact.