Principal Photonics Design Engineer - Fremont, CA, United States
Originally posted 22 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
The Principal Photonics Design Engineer develops photonic device and photonic integrated circuit (PIC) concepts for optical interconnects and high-speed communication systems. The scope targets high-speed photonic components and subsystems for 400G-per-lane links and co-packaged optics architectures.
What you'll do
- Design and optimize high-speed photonic components, modulators, photodetectors, transmission lines, electrodes, and interconnects. - Develop WDM building blocks and architectures, including wavelength filters, multiplexers/demultiplexers, and resonant devices. - Translate system-level requirements into device and circuit specifications, evaluating tradeoffs across bandwidth, optical loss, power consumption, footprint, and manufacturability. - Use optical, electromagnetic, and RF simulation tools to model and optimize device performance. - Tape out complex PICs using foundry PDKs and established silicon photonics design flows. - Support experimental characterization and collaborate with electrical and packaging engineers on optical-electrical integration.
What you'll need
- PhD or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Photonics, Applied Physics, Optics, or a related field. - Significant experience in integrated photonics or silicon photonics design and development. - Experience designing high-speed electro-optic devices and their associated RF structures. - Experience with electromagnetic and RF simulation tools such as HFSS, CST, ADS, or similar. - Experience with photonic simulation and design tools such as Lumerical, Tidy3D, RSoft, or equivalent. - Experience designing WDM components or wavelength-selective photonic circuits and taking PIC designs through layout and tapeout using foundry PDKs. - Programming experience in Python or similar languages for simulation, automation, or data analysis.
Nice to have
- Experience with co-packaged optics or advanced optical interconnect architectures. - Experience developing technologies targeting 400G-per-lane or other ultra-high-speed optical links. - Understanding of semiconductor fabrication processes and how process variations impact photonic device performance. - Experience working directly with photonic foundries or process development teams. - Experience with high-speed optical packaging and electrical-photonic integration. - Experience developing new technologies from early concept through prototype demonstration and product development.
Skills: integrated photonics, silicon photonics, PIC, electro-optic, HFSS
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 76-day median for Optical/Photonics IC Design roles.
Optical/Photonics IC Design · Photonics
|
Open roles in category
137
|
Median days open
76 d
|
Median salary
$197k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Coherent Corp | All employers we track in this specialty (137 roles · 30 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 17 | 137 |
| Median days open | 93 d | 76 d (+17 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $197k |
Skills observed across this category: integrated photonics, silicon photonics, PIC, electro-optic, HFSS
Who's hiring in this category
- Coherent Corp (this employer) · 16 open roles · median 92 d
- GlobalFoundries · 16 open roles · median 78 d
- Lightmatter · 15 open roles · median 97 d
- Lumentum · 10 open roles · median 79 d
- Marvell Technology · 9 open roles · median 41 d
- Intel Corporation · 8 open roles · median 65 d
How we counted: 137 open Optical/Photonics IC Design (Photonics) roles from 30 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 22 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there. Figures refresh nightly.