Senior Photonics Design Engineer

As a Photonic Design Engineer at Salience Labs, you will play a crucial role in developing active photonic switches for large-scale deployment. You will apply your expertise in silicon photonics and optical semiconductor devices to design, simulate, and optimise Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs). Your work will span from concept and simulation to layout and characterisation, collaborating closely with system architects, test engineers, and manufacturing partners. This is an opportunity to drive innovation in next-generation optical interconnects and contribute to the development of high-performance photonic systems.

• Designing and modelling passive and active silicon photonic devices and integrated photonic systems, including III-V's.
• Prototyping novel photonic components and architectures, designing suitable test structures, and validating experimental results against simulations.
• Using simulation and experimental data to evaluate device performance and guide engineering decisions.
• Working with the architecture team to develop system-level models for photonic integration.
• Supporting hardware and software teams to ensure alignment with system-level performance goals.
• Collaborating with component test engineers to design experiments and analyse results.
• Helping create and maintain the codebase for photonics component layout in GDS format.
• Partnering with manufacturing teams to optimise and transition designs into volume production.
• Contributing to intellectual property development, including filing patents for novel innovations.

• A Master’s degree in physics, photonics, electrical engineering, or optical engineering, with 2+ years of relevant experience (Ph.D. preferred).
• Strong understanding of waveguide optics, integrated photonic devices, and semiconductor physics.
• Knowledge of silicon photonic components, with an understanding of their trade-offs.
• Experience in modelling and simulating integrated photonic devices, using both commercial software and analytical approaches.
• Excellent communication skills, critical thinking, and self-motivation.

• Have programming experience in C++ or Python for simulation and automation.
• Are highly analytical, detail-oriented, and able to own complex tasks and drive them to completion.
• Have experience in GDS layout tools such as gdsfactory, KLayout, or equivalent.
• Understand semiconductor manufacturing processes and fabrication technologies.
• Have designed III-V active devices.
• Have laboratory experience or have worked closely with experimental teams.
• Have authored patents or research papers on photonic technologies.
• Have industry experience in product development.
• Have experience in coaching and mentoring junior engineers.

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the next generation of photonic computing, working alongside world-class experts in a fast-moving, high-impact startup. If you're passionate about pushing the boundaries of silicon photonics, we’d love to hear from you!