Principal Systems Engineer, Signal-Path Performance & Modeling - Austin, Texas, United States

Originally posted 15 October 2026 by the employer.

Neurophos uses silicon photonics and an active, programmable metasurface to perform matrix multiplications.

About the role

This role involves owning the quantitative, end-to-end performance model of an optical vector-matrix multiplication (OVMM) engine, leading the modeling, analysis, and architectural definition of high-speed communication and signal-processing systems. You will define the performance envelope of a first-of-its-kind computing platform using silicon photonics.

What you'll do

• Own and define the architecture of the high-speed communication and signal-processing system, including digital signal processing, D/A and A/D conversion, and analog/optical signal conditioning.
• Maintain the end-to-end optical and electrical link/power budget for the signal path, keeping it synchronized with hardware.
• Build and maintain the reference behavioral model of the full TX–channel–RX signal path, capturing optical, analog, quantization, and algorithmic effects.
• Allocate NMSE/SNR/SNDR targets across optics, analog, quantization, and algorithmic domains and update allocations as architecture changes.
• Characterize and model optical, analog, and digital impairments such as noise, distortion, jitter, quantization effects, crosstalk, mismatch, and nonlinearity.
• Develop and run statistical (Monte Carlo, corner) and time-domain simulations to quantify design margin and manufacturing robustness.

What you'll need

• MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a closely related field, with emphasis on communication theory, signal processing, or mixed-signal systems.
• 7+ years of professional experience in communication systems architecture, link-budget/signal-chain modeling, or performance modeling of optical or high-speed electrical communication systems.
• Deep knowledge of modulation formats, equalization, synchronization and estimation, quantization effects, and coding-gain concepts.
• Expert-level proficiency in Python (NumPy/SciPy) and/or MATLAB/Simulink for behavioral modeling, Monte Carlo simulation, and statistical/time-domain analysis.
• Experience with optical or high-speed electrical link budgets, including the ability to allocate impairments across components.

Nice to have

• Experience with coherent or direct-detection architectures, or high-speed SerDes/networking standards (Ethernet, PCIe, OIF-CEI).
• System-level modeling of high-speed data converters (ADC/DAC), including quantization, sampling, and multi-device synchronization effects.
• Familiarity with Cadence Virtuoso and Spectre sufficient to validate behavioral models against circuit-level simulation.
• Hands-on laboratory characterization or silicon/system bring-up experience.
• Familiarity with photonic integrated circuits, silicon photonics, or optical transceiver systems.

Skills: optical vector-matrix multiplication, silicon photonics, signal-path architecture, link & power budget, impairment analysis, system-level modeling