Senior Silicon Photonics Engineer

Silith; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical premiums paid by employer

401(k) with company match

PTO 15 days first year

Sick leave 5 days

11 company holidays

Job summary

Silith in Santa Clara, CA seeks a Senior Engineer to design and characterize silicon photonic devices and circuits. You will work across photonic design, fabrication, test and data analysis with a multidisciplinary team.

The role involves creating mask layouts, running simulations, and developing comprehensive characterization plans. Strong communication and hands-on test experience are required.

Qualifications

• PhD in electrical engineering, optics, applied physics, materials science, or closely related field.
• Strong understanding of integrated optics, electromagnetics, and device fundamentals.
• Experience with optical simulation methods and tools.
• Experience with photonic-device layout and semiconductor fabrication processes.
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB or similar for data analysis and automation.
• Hands-on experience with optical and electro-optical test equipment.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary engineering environment.

Responsibilities

• Design silicon-photonic devices: waveguides, couplers, splitters, filters, modulators, photodetectors.
• Run optical, electrical, and multiphysics simulations with tools like Lumerical, HFSS, Silvaco.
• Create mask layouts and parameterized cells using Cadence, KLayout, or similar.
• Develop and execute optical and electrical characterization plans.
• Analyze results, compare with simulations, identify sources of variation.
• Support wafer-level and packaged-device testing including fiber alignment and RF measurements.
• Collaborate with internal and external teams across fabrication, testing, packaging, and electronics.

Skills

Python

MATLAB

Optical simulations

Data analysis

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Communication skills

Test instrumentation

Education

PhD in related field

Tools

Lumerical

HFSS

Silvaco

Cadence

KLayout

Job description

We are seeking a Senior Engineer to develop and characterize silicon photonic devices and circuits. The engineer will work with a multidisciplinary team spanning photonic design, fabrication, test and data analysis.

Key Responsibilities

• Design silicon-photonic devices such as waveguides, couplers, splitters, filters, modulators and photodetectors.
• Perform optical, electrical, and multiphysics simulations using tools such as Lumerical, HFSS, Silvaco or equivalent software.
• Create mask layouts and parameterized cells using Python, Cadence, KLayout or similar tools.
• Develop and execute optical and electrical characterization plans.
• Analyze measurement data, compare results with simulations, and identify sources of performance variation.
• Support wafer-level and packaged-device testing, including fiber alignment, RF measurements, and S-parameter analysis.
• Collaborate with internal and external teams in fabrication, testing, packaging, electronics and system designs.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage; the company pays 100% of the employee medical premium and 60% of eligible dependent medical premiums.
• 401(k) plan with a dollar-for-dollar employer match on the first 5% of eligible compensation deferred.
• 15 days of PTO annually during the first year, accrued throughout the year, with accrual increasing based on tenure.
• Five days of paid sick leave per year and 11 paid company holidays.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in electrical engineering, optics, applied physics, materials science, or a closely related field.
• Strong understanding of integrated optics, electromagnetic theory, and semiconductor-device fundamentals.
• Experience with optical simulation methods and tools.
• Experience with photonic-device layout and familiarity with semiconductor fabrication processes.
• Ability to use Python, MATLAB or similar software for data analysis and automation.
• Hands‑on experience with optical and electro‑optical test equipment.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary engineering environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Three years of relevant experience following completion of the PhD.
• Experience designing modulators, photodetectors, wavelength filters, or optical transceivers on silicon photonic platform.
• Familiarity with CMOS‑compatible fabrication and tape‑out experience with commercial foundries.
• Experience with RF probes, vector network analyzers, high‑speed oscilloscopes, or bit‑error‑rate testing.
• Knowledge of compact modeling, statistical variation, or design‑for‑manufacturing methods.
• Experience in automating measurement systems.