Lightmatter

Director, Photonics Hardware Validation

Lightmatter • $261K — $300K *
Telecommunications & Hardware
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related field.
  • Experience in data communications, especially electro-optic link-level testing.
  • Familiarity with PCB design, hardware testing, and debugging electro-optic circuits.
  • Proficient in using standard bench test equipment for characterizing data communications.
  • Basic scripting skills for test automation and result analysis.
  • Strong understanding of electrical and optical components in transmitters and receivers.
  • Ability to troubleshoot and debug optical transceiver components.

Responsibilities

  • Understand chip specifications; manage the bring-up, testing, and validation of Optical Interconnect products.
  • Contribute to the development of comprehensive test plans and bench configurations.
  • Setup and troubleshoot lab test equipment for successful chip validation.
  • Conduct electro-optic testing using industry-standard methods and equipment.
  • Drive collaboration with design and software teams for effective product validation.

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 for full-time employees.
Full Job Description
In this pivotal role within Silicon Engineering, you will own the end-to-end post-silicon validation strategy and execution across optical, electrical, and system level. You will collaborate directly with Silicon Design, Laser, Packaging, Software, and Supply Chain leadership to architect scalable lab infrastructure, drive automated testing frameworks, and ensure our products meet world-class reliability standards for hyperscale AI data centers.

Responsibilities
  • Scale the product validation team by recruiting, mentoring, and developing multi-disciplinary talent across optical, electrical, software, and automation domains.
  • Drive silicon and platform validation strategies, requirements, and execution plans for our optical interconnect platform.
  • Architect and define comprehensive, at-scale validation environments, test frameworks, automated test suites, and telemetry data collection workflows.
  • Analyze silicon and system architecture to identify integration risks, design gaps, and marginality issues requiring rigorous corner validation.
  • Oversee the execution of validation plans, leading technical triage and root-cause debug for hardware, firmware, and system-level issues.
  • Partner closely with Silicon, Packaging, Hardware, and Software teams to align validation coverage with design specifications and system requirements.
  • Influence pre-silicon design and simulation milestones to ensure feature completeness, advocating for validation hooks, telemetry sensors, and diagnostic monitors on-chip and on reference platforms.
  • Drive hardware and software automation initiatives to enhance testing throughput, repeatability, and data analytics capabilities across validation labs.

Qualifications
  • BS, MS, or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Photonics, Physics, or a related technical field.
  • 12+ years of semiconductor or hardware validation experience, with significant exposure to optical/photonics link-level products.
  • Strong technical background in laser, optics, or silicon photonics architecture and characterization.
  • 5+ years of experience developing test content, automation infrastructure, and scripting in Python or C++.
  • Proven leadership track record managing cross-functional engineering teams in a fast-paced environment working on transceivers or link-level products.
  • Solid understanding of industry standard requirements (IEEE, MSA, OIF) and product validation through corner testing (temperature, voltage, and process matrices), including defining validation plans and generating validation reports.
  • Demonstrated ability to establish process improvements, test methodologies, and data analysis workflows.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Excellent technical leadership, communication, and cross-functional project management skills.
  • Proven track record of successfully leading multiple link-level products through validation and high-volume production release.
  • Experience scaling engineering teams through hypergrowth, establishing career development frameworks, and fostering a high-performance environment.
  • Demonstrated capability to align executive stakeholders on technical roadmaps, resource trade-offs, and risk mitigation strategies.


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.

$261,000-$300,000 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.

About Lightmatter

Industry
Founded
2017

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