Sr. Staff Engineer, Optical Link Design
$175,000 - $223,000 USD yearly
Focus on link modeling and data analysis for silicon photonics co-packaged optics (CPO) platforms.
About the role
As a member of the Link Design and Architecture team, you will bridge large-scale data analysis and optical link models to optimize the performance of co-packaged optics (CPO) solutions. You will be responsible for ensuring the robustness and performance of silicon photonics optical I/O platforms.
What you'll do
- Drive link modeling studies to evaluate future product solution spaces and define component-level specifications.
- Identify key device performance metrics and translate hardware variability into impacts on total link budget and manufacturing yield.
- Build system-level models based on component-level data and benchmark them against measured system-level data.
- Work with Photonic and AMS teams to ensure integration across electrical and optical domains.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Optics/Photonics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
- Demonstrated experience in photonics, electrical engineering, high-speed link design, or processing and analyzing large statistical datasets.
- Understanding of high-speed electrical and/or optical links, as well as optical physics regarding photonic components.
- Programming proficiency in Python for scientific computing and data analysis.
- Experience with data analysis libraries including Pandas, NumPy, and SciPy.
Nice to have
- Master's or Ph.D. in Optics/Photonics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
- Experience in the design and simulation of PIC components or large-scale integrated optical systems.
- Experience with laboratory equipment and free-space/fiber optics for optical characterization.
- Proficiency in behavioral modeling using Verilog-A and knowledge of mixed-signal simulation methodologies.
More semiconductor jobs: Hardware design jobs · San Jose jobs
This role has been open 150 days — well above the 46-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
1126
|
Median days open
46 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$150k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Ayar Labs | All employers we track in this specialty (1126 roles · 109 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 12 | 1126 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 24 | 6531 · 156 employers |
| Median days open | 51 d | 46 d (+5 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $150k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 88 open roles · median 33 d
- KLA Corporation · 66 open roles · median 59 d
- Applied Materials · 60 open roles · median 40 d
- ASML · 59 open roles · median 17 d
- NVIDIA · 58 open roles · median 74 d
- Teradyne · 58 open roles · median 51 d
How we counted: 1126 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 109 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 8 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 — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.