Photonics Hardware Validation Engineer

Location: Mountain View, CA

Department: Product Engineering

In this role, you will design, develop, and build photonic test systems that are critical to the characterization and validation of our products. You will collaborate closely with device, hardware, software, and digital and analog design teams to support the end-to-end development, validation, and qualification of photonic systems and their key components.

Join a tight-knit team where each individual’s contributions directly impact the success of the company and our innovative products. At Lightmatter, you’ll have the opportunity to work with people who love to build and thrive in technically diverse environments where great ideas are valued and prioritized.

We are hiring a Photonics Hardware Validation Engineer to join our Validation team to drive photonics testing, characterization and validation of our silicon photonics-based optical Interconnect Products.

Responsibilities

• You will need to understand our chip specifications well so that you can take responsibility for chip bring-up, testing, and validation of our next-generation Optical Interconnect products. This includes supporting the development of chip validation plans aligned to product specifications, xDVT, and interoperability testing.
• You will be required to contribute to test plan development, test bench configuration planning, setup of lab test equipment, and troubleshooting of validation setups to enable successful chip bring-up and testing.
• You will work within the product validation team on electro-optic, link-level testing in our lab using industry-standard practices and equipment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related field with a minimum of 12 years of relevant experience, or a Master’s degree with a minimum of 8 years of relevant experience.
• Experience in the data communications field, specifically in electro-optic link-level testing and characterization in a lab environment.
• Familiarity with PCB design, including hardware testing and debugging of electro-optic circuits.
• Ability to work closely with Design Engineers, Software Engineers, and broader cross-functional teams to quickly gain knowledge of Lightmatter products and drive execution of chip bring-up and validation in our lab.
• Hands-on experience with standard bench test equipment for data communications, including electro-optic link testing and characterization.
• Basic scripting skills for automation of lab tests including analysis of results and report generation.
• Solid understanding of electrical and optical blocks in transmitters and receivers to enable efficient chip bring-up and link testing.
• Ability to troubleshoot and debug the electrical optical building blocks in a transceiver to triage bugs and root-cause performance gaps.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD is a plus
• Experience with high-speed data communication systems, including NRZ and PAM4 signaling.
• Familiarity with industry standards such as IEEE, OIF-CEI, or similar for data communication systems.
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for scripting and automation.
• Strong documentation skills to develop clear test plans, reports, and technical presentations.
• Prior experience in leading or mentoring junior engineers in lab validation and testing workflows.