Senior/Principal Analog Mixed-Signal Design Engineer, Optical Receiver

Octopyd; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Avicena in Sunnyvale, CA seeks a Senior/Principal Analog Mixed-Signal Design Engineer for the Optical Receiver. You will own the receiver front-end from spec to signoff, turning photodetector current into clean data across many parallel lanes, collaborating with RX, layout and digital teams.

Role spans senior through principal levels; title and scope match experience. You will lead reviews, mentor engineers, and drive architecture trade-offs while delivering robust silicon.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering or BS with equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of analog/mixed-signal design experience.
• Taped-out high-speed receiver circuits such as TIAs and CTLEs.
• Design experience in FinFET or advanced CMOS processes.
• Proficiency with Cadence Virtuoso and Spectre for analysis.

Responsibilities

• Design and simulate receiver circuits: photodetector interface and transimpedance amps.
• Analyze noise, bandwidth, sensitivity, crosstalk and power per lane across corners.
• Design calibration and trim circuits with digital team interfaces.
• Collaborate with layout for floorplans, routing, and post-layout verification.
• Provide behavioral models and correlate with transistor-level results.
• Write block specifications and present at design reviews.
• Support silicon bring-up and correlate measurements with simulation.
• At principal level: set technical direction and lead reviews; mentor engineers.

Skills

Analog/mixed-signal design

Noise analysis

Verilog-A / SystemVerilog real-number

MATLAB or Python

Mentoring engineers

Block specification

Education

MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering

BS with equivalent experience

Tools

Cadence Virtuoso

Spectre

Job description

Senior/Principal Analog Mixed-Signal Design Engineer, Optical Receiver

Avicena

Location: Sunnyvale, CA, US

Job Title

Senior/Principal Analog Mixed-Signal Design Engineer, Optical Receiver

About the Role

Avicena is developing high-speed parallel optical links built from arrays of microLED transmitters and photodetector receivers. We are looking for analog mixed-signal engineers to design the receiver front-end that turns photodetector current into clean digital data across many parallel lanes. You will own circuits from specification through post-layout signoff and silicon correlation, working closely with the RX lead, layout and the digital team. We are hiring at senior through principal level; title and scope will match experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and simulate receiver circuits: photodetector interface, transimpedance amplifiers, limiting and post-amplifiers, equalization, comparators and slicers, offset cancellation and signal detection.
• Analyze noise, bandwidth, sensitivity, crosstalk and power per lane across PVT corners and Monte Carlo.
• Design calibration and trim circuits, and define their control interface with the digital team.
• Work with layout on floorplans, matching and parasitic-sensitive routing for dense receiver arrays; run post-layout extraction and verification.
• Deliver behavioral models (Verilog-A or real-number models) and correlate them with transistor-level results.
• Write block specifications and present at design reviews.
• Support silicon bring-up and correlate measurements with simulation.

At the principal level, you will also

• Set the technical direction for receiver circuits and front-end architecture trade-offs with the RX lead and system architect.
• Lead design reviews and define verification and signoff criteria for RX blocks.
• Mentor engineers and review their designs.

Qualifications

Required

• MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering (or BS with equivalent experience) and 5+ years of analog/mixed-signal design.
• Taped-out high-speed receiver circuits such as TIAs, CTLEs, limiting amplifiers or comparators for optical or wireline links.
• Design experience in FinFET or other advanced CMOS processes.
• Proficiency with Cadence Virtuoso and Spectre, including noise, AC, transient and Monte Carlo analysis.
• Experience taking blocks through post-layout extraction and signoff.

Preferred

• Optical receivers or photodiode interfaces.
• Multi-Gb/s wireline receivers or arrays of parallel lanes.
• Behavioral modeling in Verilog-A or SystemVerilog real-number models.
• MATLAB or Python for analysis and automation.
• 10+ years with technical leadership of receiver designs through production (principal level).
• Analytical: reasons from first principles about noise, bandwidth and power.
• Ownership: carries a block from specification to silicon.
• Collaboration: works closely with layout, digital and system architecture.
• Clear communicator: documents designs and trade-offs concisely.