Senior Photonics Design Engineer - SOA
$162,000 - $215,000 USD yearly
Development, design, and integration of Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs) in OpenLight’s heterogeneous silicon-III-V photonic platform.
About the role
As part of OpenLight’s Silicon Photonics team, you will be responsible for the development, design, and integration of Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs) in OpenLight’s heterogeneous silicon-III-V photonic platform. You will work on device design, define characterization and validation plans, and build compact models for the process design kit (PDK).
What you'll do
- Design and simulate SOAs and optoelectronic components, and execute development runs.
- Define device CAD layouts in collaboration with process and layout engineers.
- Develop compact models for III-V devices in OpenLight’s SiPh PDK.
- Work with process engineers to define and optimize device structures and manufacturing processes.
- Partner with test engineering to define wafer- and die-level test requirements and collaborate with reliability engineering on qualification strategies and failure analysis.
- Work with PIC and system architects to validate device performance against target specifications.
What you'll need
- Degree in Electrical Engineering, Applied Material Science, Applied Physics, or a related discipline.
- 1+ years of relevant professional experience following completion of your degree.
- Hands-on knowledge of III-V photonic devices, with specific emphasis on amplifiers.
- Knowledge of photonics simulation techniques including EME and FDTD, with hands-on experience using tools such as Lumerical, RSoft, Photon Design, or similar software.
- Understanding of integrated photonics, semiconductor Si, and III-V processing.
- Proficiency in programming with scripting languages, preferably Python, and hands-on experience with photonic device characterization.
- Understanding of opto-electronic device requirements for datacom and LiDAR applications.
Nice to have
- Experience with high-speed RF measurement.
Skills: SOA, semiconductor optical amplifiers, III-V, Lumerical, FDTD, PDK
More semiconductor jobs: Photonics jobs · Santa Clara jobs
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 88-day median for Optical/Photonics IC Design roles.
Optical/Photonics IC Design · Photonics
|
Open roles in category
134
|
Median days open
88 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$197k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | OpenLight | All employers we track in this specialty (134 roles · 29 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 7 | 134 |
| Median days open | 0 d | 88 d (−88 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $197k |
Skills observed across this category: SOA, semiconductor optical amplifiers, III-V, Lumerical, FDTD, PDK
Who's hiring in this category
- Coherent Corp · 18 open roles · median 101 d
- GlobalFoundries · 13 open roles · median 75 d
- Lightmatter · 13 open roles · median 109 d
- Marvell Technology · 10 open roles · median 46 d
- Lumentum · 9 open roles · median 91 d
- Intel Corporation · 7 open roles · median 74 d
How we counted: 134 open Optical/Photonics IC Design (Photonics) roles from 29 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 3 Nov 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.