Lumilens

Principal Engineer Silicon Photonics

San Jose · Principal

Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 27 days ago

PythonCloud PlatformsProduct ManagementTest AutomationLeadershipPublic Speaking

About the role

We are seeking a Principal Engineer, Silicon Photonics to join our rapidly growing team.
The successful candidate will work closely with customers, contract manufacturers, suppliers, and internal development teams to meet product objectives while instilling a culture of quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Lead Product Definition: Own and drive product requirements for next-generation optical interconnects, balancing performance, manufacturability, cost, power, and time-to-market.
Drive Cross-Functional Alignment: Create and own clear product requirements, aligning internal engineering teams, external partners, and key stakeholders around priorities, trade-offs, milestones, and deliverables for packaged optics solutions.
Analyze and Optimize: Perform critical link analysis, using simulation and modeling to assess impairments like noise and distortion, ensuring our products deliver robust performance in real-world systems.
Translate System Goals into Execution: Convert top-level product objectives into actionable requirements for silicon photonics, electronics, firmware, software, validation, and manufacturing partners.
Lead Packaged Optics Execution: Guide the development of packaged silicon photonics solutions, including co-packaged optics and optical I/O approaches, with attention to assembly tolerances, fiber attach, thermal constraints, test strategy, reliability, and scale-up readiness.
Validate: Define the complete testing strategy, from engineering verification and product validation to system integration. You will define test methodologies, select equipment, and be hands-on in the lab to bring our products to life.
Professional development opportunities and certification support

A seasoned technical leader with deep hands-on expertise in silicon photonics and packaged optics, with a strong track record of bringing complex products from concept to production.
A leader who is just as comfortable presenting a technical roadmap to executives as you are setting up an experiment in the lab.
Direct experience with packaged silicon photonics or optical engine development, including packaging trade-offs, integration constraints, and manufacturing considerations.
Experience defining product requirements and driving execution across hardware, firmware, software, validation, and manufacturing teams.
Experience defining test plans (EVT, DVT, SVT) and test methodologies for optical systems.
Must be hands-on in a lab environment.
Experience with test automation frameworks and scripting (e.g., Python).
Experience with fiber attach technologies, optical assembly processes, and package-level integration challenges for silicon photonics products.
Proven experience in a principal-level technical leadership role developing and delivering photonics-based products.
Deep expertise in silicon photonics design, performance characteristics, and trade-offs.
Demonstrated ability to perform optical link budget analysis using simulation and modeling.
Ability to work effectively and drive decisions within a fast-paced, startup environment.

This isn't incremental innovation, it's a ground-floor opportunity to rethink the optical layer from the silicon up.

Comprehensive benefits package including health insurance
All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, gender, identity, orientation, veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Serve as the primary technical interface with customers, foundry partners, and suppliers, ensuring product decisions are grounded in real-world use cases, market needs, and execution realities.
Be the Customer and Product Voice: Serve as the primary technical interface with customers, foundry partners, and suppliers, ensuring product decisions are grounded in real-world use cases, market needs, and execution realities.
Direct experience working with hyperscale data center customers or suppliers on packaged optics, co-packaged optics, or optical I/O solutions.

This listing is sourced directly from Lumilens's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.