Director, Photonics Product Marketing

Responsible for profitability and growth of a specific business line.


Typically performs one or more of the following in capacity of either an individual contributor (as directed and/or independently), or as a manager:
• Responsible for the profitability and growth of the entire or part of global business line
• Develops and implements programs & strategies that will successfully promote the organization's mission & meet financial objectives.
• Identifies target customers, maintains and strengthens external relationships including customers & other external authorities
• Accountable for and drives commitment; to compliance with all internal policies and legal regulations in every area of the organizations daily activity, including development of short and long-term plans, policies, and guidelines
• Perform all activities in a safe and responsible manner and support all Environmental, Health, Safety & Security requirements and programs
• Work and collaborate other projects and/or assignments as needed.
See description for career level for general proficiency levels pertaining to Job Complexity, Accountability, Relationship Focus, and Knowledge, Skills & Abilities. These proficiency levels apply to all career levels. Some requirements may vary locally.

Summary of Role: We are seeking a Director of Product Marketing to lead market strategy, positioning, and go to market execution for GF's photonics product line, part of the Wafer product organization. This role will define and champion the market view for silicon photonics and photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technologies, working across product management, engineering, and business development to translate market and customer needs into a differentiated technology and product roadmap. This role will also work closely with Sales and BD to help close deals and will have ownership of pricing for Sipho customers

The successful candidate will combine deep understanding of the photonics and optical interconnect market with strong product marketing discipline, the ability to build compelling positioning and messaging, and the credibility to engage directly with customers, industry analysts, and internal executive stakeholders. This role begins as an individual contributor, with the expectation of building out a small team, one to two direct reports, within the first six months as the function scales.

Key Responsibilities

Market Strategy and Positioning
- Define and own product marketing strategy for the photonics product line, including market segmentation, competitive positioning, and value proposition development.
- Build and maintain a clear view of the competitive landscape across silicon photonics, optical interconnect, and co packaged optics suppliers, and translate that into actionable positioning.
- Partner with Product Management to align market requirements, pricing strategy, and product roadmap priorities.

Go to Market Execution
- Develop messaging, collateral, and launch plans for new photonics products and technology milestones.
- Partner with Business Development and Sales to support customer engagements, RFPs, and technical marketing needs throughout the sales cycle.
- Represent GF's photonics roadmap and capabilities at industry conferences, customer briefings, and analyst engagements.

Customer and Market Insight
- Engage directly with customers across hyperscale, AI infrastructure, networking, and datacenter markets to understand requirements and validate roadmap direction.
- Build and maintain relationships with industry analysts, standards bodies, and ecosystem partners relevant to photonics and optical interconnect.
- Synthesize market intelligence, customer feedback, and competitive data into regular reporting for product and executive leadership.

Cross Functional Leadership
- Partner closely with Engineering, Product Management, Business Development, and Communications to ensure a unified market narrative for the photonics product line.
- Represent product marketing in executive roadmap reviews, business planning, and strategic investment discussions.
- Establish the product marketing function for the photonics product line, operating as an individual contributor initially, with the expectation of hiring one to two direct reports within approximately six months as scope grows.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, Business, or a related field; MBA or advanced technical degree preferred.
- 10+ years of experience in product marketing, technical marketing, or product management within the semiconductor or optical/photonics industry.
- Strong technical understanding of silicon photonics, optical interconnect, or related semiconductor packaging and integration technologies sufficient to engage credibly with engineering and customer technical teams.
- Demonstrated experience building market positioning, messaging, and go to market strategy for a technical product line.
- Experience engaging directly with customers, including technical and executive level stakeholders, in a marketing or business facing capacity.
- Excellent written, verbal, and executive presentation skills.
- Demonstrated ability to work cross functionally across engineering, product management, sales, and business development.
- Willingness and readiness to move into a people manager role within the first six months, including hiring and developing one to two direct reports; prior people management experience is a plus but not required at time of hire.

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience specifically in silicon photonics, optical engines, co packaged optics, or high speed interconnect markets.
- Experience supporting hyperscale, AI infrastructure, or datacenter networking customers.
- Track record of building a product marketing function or team from an early stage.
- Familiarity with semiconductor foundry, OSAT, or IDM business models and customer engagement patterns.
- Experience presenting at industry conferences or engaging with industry analysts (Gartner, Yole, LightCounting, or similar).

Role Impact

This position will shape how GF's photonics product line is understood and adopted in the market, directly supporting the growth strategy for Advanced Connectivity's Wafer product organization under Shankaran Janardhanan. The Director will be a key voice in translating customer and market needs into product direction and in representing GF's photonics capabilities externally.

Expected Salary Range

$193,000.00 - $319,000.00

The exact Salary will be determined based on qualifications, experience and location.