Skip to content
CV Rocket
Get started
How it worksThe enginePricingBlogContactSign in

Open nowPosted 59 days agoWe saw it 6 min after it went up

Staff/Sr Staff Electro-Optic Link Codesign Engineer

Lightmatter61 open roles

Pay
$180,000 – $260,000 a year
Where
Boston, MA; Mountain View, CA; Toronto, ON
Get the CV for this job

From $25 per CV, paid once. No subscription.

Your applicationOpen nowStaff/Sr Staff Electro-Optic Link Codesign EngineerLightmatter · Boston, MA; Mountain View, CA; Toronto, ON

  1. YouYes, apply to this one.

  2. CV RocketCV written for this posting.

  3. 25 readersRecruiter, hiring manager, skeptic. Round after round.

  4. CV RocketApplied on Lightmatter's own form.

The reply lands in your private mailbox

3×more interviews than doing it yourself with ChatGPT.

The clock on this job

Early applications get read.

12.1% of postings close within 7 days. Measured by our own scanner across the market. Lightmatter postings stay open a median of 51 days.

Share of postings closed within
  1. 2.1%1 day
  2. 4.5%3 days
  3. 12.1%7 days
  4. 19.1%14 days
  5. 35.6%30 days
  6. 52.7%60 days
This job: posted 59 days ago

Lightmatter median: 51 days open

The posting

Lightmatter is leading the revolution in AI data center infrastructure, enabling the next giant leaps in human progress. The company invented the world’s first 3D-stacked photonics engine, Passage™, capable of connecting thousands to millions of processors at the speed of light in extreme-scale data centers for the most advanced AI and HPC workloads.

Lightmatter raised $400 million in its Series D round, reaching a valuation of $4.4 billion. We will continue to accelerate the development of data center photonics and grow every department at Lightmatter!

If you're passionate about tackling complex challenges, making an impact, and being an expert in your craft, join our team of brilliant scientists, engineers, and accomplished industry leaders.

Lightmatter is (re)inventing the future of computing with light!

We are seeking a Sr. Staff Engineer, Photonic Link Co-Design to join our Laser Systems Architecture & Engineering team. This is one of the most technically demanding roles at Lightmatter: you will own the end-to-end simulation, co-design, and laboratory verification of photonic-electronic links in Passage™ — from photonic device modeling through to full transceiver channel characterization in silicon.

You will build and maintain the high-fidelity simulation infrastructure that links optical device performance to system-level BER and link margin, drive co-design between photonic and analog circuit teams, and close the loop between simulation and lab measurement on every tape-out. This role sits at the center of how Lightmatter ensures Passage links meet performance at every process corner — and is the technical anchor for photonic-electronic integration quality.

The right candidate is equally fluent in photonic simulation environments and at a high-speed electro-optic lab bench, and has the seniority to drive architecture decisions with data.

Responsibilities

  • Develop, own, and continuously improve electro-optic link simulation models covering photonic device, propagation, and channel BER — from electron to photon to electron.
  • Build multi-physics models that combine optical propagation (VPI Photonics, Lumerical INTERCONNECT / FDTD, sax), analog circuit behavior (Cadence Virtuoso / Spectre, Verilog-A)) into a coherent link analysis framework.
  • Execute comprehensive corner analysis, Monte Carlo variation sweeps, and process-voltage-temperature (PVT) studies to bound link margin; generate actionable specification tightening recommendations for device and circuit teams.
  • Work closely with analog circuit designers to co-optimize transmitter driver and receiver front-end for the photonic device interface; drive joint simulation across the optical-electrical boundary.
  • Contribute to photonic link budgets end-to-end: optical power, modulation efficiency, receiver sensitivity, noise floor, and SNR/OSNR margins.
  • Contribute to simulation-to-silicon closure methodology for Passage optical links; author test protocols, define measurement sequences, and iterate link models against measured data across process splits and device corners.
  • Identify and diagnose root causes of link performance gaps — distinguishing photonic, electrical, and integration origins — and drive corrective design actions.
  • Author and review photonic link architectural specifications, co-design interface requirements, and design-entry criteria for photonic and circuit teams.
  • Contribute to Passage product-level link planning: propose photonic and electronic co-design opportunities to improve link margin, power efficiency, or yield.

Requirements:

  • PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Physics, or a closely related photonics/optics discipline and 5+ years of experience; or MS + 8 years of directly relevant industry experience at a photonic IC, transceiver, or optical interconnect company.
  • Deep expertise in photonic device physics and system-level optical link design: silicon photonic modulators, Ge photodetectors, passive WDM components, optical amplifiers, and coherent or intensity-modulated link topologies.
  • Hands-on proficiency with photonic simulation: VPI Photonics, Lumerical FDTD / INTERCONNECT, or equivalent optical propagation and circuit co-simulation tools.
  • Experience with analog and mixed-signal simulation: Cadence Virtuoso / Spectre, Verilog-A behavioral modeling, or Keysight ADS for electrical-optical co-simulation.
  • Demonstrated experience developing and executing optical link budgets, corner analyses, and simulation-to-measurement closure workflows.
  • Demonstrated high-speed lab skills: vector network analyzers (VNA) / S-parameter characterization, optical spectrum analyzers, high-bandwidth real-time oscilloscopes, BER test sets, optical modulation analyzers (OMA), and optical power meters.
  • Proficiency in Python for simulation scripting, measurement automation, and statistical post-processing.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication; able to drive architecture and specification discussions with device and circuit teams.
  • Familiarity with SERDES architecture: equalization topologies (FFE, DFE, CTLE), CDR, and mixed-signal PHY co-design for high-speed interfaces.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Silicon photonics tape-out and post-silicon characterization experience; familiarity with PDK-level device models and extracted simulation vs. measurement correlation.
  • Exposure to co-packaged optics (CPO), near-package optics (NPO), or optical I/O chiplet integration challenges.
  • Signal processing knowledge: DSP for optical communications, forward error correction (FEC), or PAM-4 / NRZ / coherent modulation format trade-offs and simulation.
  • Experience with Monte Carlo and statistical design methodologies in the context of photonic-electronic system co-design.

We offer competitive compensation. The base salary range for this role determined based on location, experience, educational background, and market data.

Salary Range: total compensation goes beyond base salary, it also includes a new hire equity grant, annual performance-based equity, and other rewards that recognize your impact and contribution.

$180,000—$260,000 USD

Benefits

  • Comprehensive Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
  • Retirement Savings Matching Program
  • Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
  • Generous Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
  • Paid Family Leave
  • Short Term & Long Term Disability
  • Training & Development
  • Commuter Benefits
  • Flexible, hybrid workplace model
  • Equity grants (applicable to full-time employees)

Benefits eligibility may vary depending on your employment status and location. Lightmatter recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.

Export Control

Candidates should have capacity to comply with the federally mandated requirements of U.S. export control laws.

From $25, paid onceGet the CV for this job

What happens when you press

One press. We do the rest.

  1. A CV for this posting

    Written against Lightmatter's own wording, from every piece of relevant proof in your profile.

  2. 25 readers review it

    Recruiter, hiring manager, skeptic and more read every draft, round after round. You get the best round.

    The review screen in CV Rocket: how each CV was read, round by round.

  3. We apply on Lightmatter's form

    Our application engine gets through the hardest forms there are. Where a question needs you, AI suggests the best answer. Don't want us applying from our IP addresses? Use our Chrome extension: we apply straight from your own browser.

    An application in CV Rocket: every answer filled in on the employer's form.

  4. Every reply, sorted

    Lightmatter's answer lands in your private mailbox, and we classify it on arrival: interview, question, rejection.

    The CV Rocket inbox: each employer reply classified as an interview, an action or a rejection.

  5. Reply with AI

    AI helps you write the email, checks it and sends it. We show you whether the recruiter read it.

  6. The interview in your calendar

    Full integration with your calendar. The invitation goes straight in.

    An interview invitation in the CV Rocket inbox, added to the candidate's calendar.
Get the CV for this job

From $25 per CV, paid once. No subscription.

Why it works

3×

more interviews than doing it yourself with ChatGPT.

ChatGPT writes a CV and never learns what happened to it. We see every reply. For each CV we know:

  • How it was written, and how the review scored it
  • When we applied, and how long after the posting went up
  • Which posting, which company, which city
  • Who got the interview, and who heard nothing

That is how we know which CVs get called.

Get the CV for this job

From $25 per CV, paid once. No subscription.

The numbers game

More applications. More interviews.

Every application goes out with its own CV, written for that posting and paid once. Send enough of them and the law of large numbers finds you the job.

Get the CV for this job
By hand5–10
With CV Rocket100
applications a day

Nearby

Live postings like this one

Same employer first, then the same role elsewhere.

Before you press

Straight answers

Get the CV for this job

From $25 per CV, paid once. No subscription.

What if my background isn't good enough?

We make the most of the background you have. The CV uses every piece of relevant proof your profile holds, and one of the 25 readers reads your whole profile and flags what the CV left out.

Do you really apply for me?

Yes, on the employer's own form, the hardest ones included. Where a question needs you, you answer it right there and AI suggests the best answer. Don't want us applying from our IP addresses? Use our Chrome extension: we apply straight from your own browser.

Is it a subscription?

No. You pay once per CV, from $25. Every application goes out with its own CV, written for that posting.

One job. One CV.
Paid once.

Pick the posting you want. We write for it, apply for you and catch the reply.

Get the CV for this job

From $25 per CV, paid once. No subscription.