What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sr. Staff Engineer, Optical Packaging position at Ayar Labs?
Location: San Jose (on-site)
Ayar Labs is seeking a skilled Optical Engineer to join our Packaging Team and drive the design, simulation, and validation of advanced optical packaging solutions and optical components used in our silicon photonics platforms.
This role focuses on fiber optics, fiber-to-chip coupling interfaces, and optical connectors. You will develop and analyze coupling structures, connector interfaces, and micro-optics, ensuring high optical performance across the desired wavelength range and optical link formats in the system.
This position is ideal for a hands-on, self-driven engineer who thrives in a fast-paced environment and can move optical concepts from early design through production readiness while collaborating closely with cross-functional teams and external partners.
Responsibilities
Note To Recruiters
Principals only. We are not accepting resumes from recruiters for this position. Remuneration for recruiting activities is only applicable subject to a signed and executed agreement between the parties. Please don’t send candidates to Ayar Labs, and do not contact our managers.
About Ayar Labs
At Ayar Labs we’re about to revolutionize computing by moving data with light. We’re unleashing processing power for artificial intelligence, high performance computing, cloud and telecommunications by removing the bottlenecks created by today’s electrical I/O -- making it possible to continue scaling computing system performance. Ayar Labs is the first to deliver an optical I/O solution that combines in-package optical I/O chiplets and multi-wavelength remote light sources to replace traditional electrical I/O. This silicon photonics-based I/O solution enables chips to communicate with each other from millimeters to kilometers, to deliver orders of magnitude improvements in latency, bandwidth density, and power consumption.
With our strong collaborations with industry leaders and government, our deep ties to MIT and UC Berkeley, and our commitment to hiring the best engineers in photonics and electronics, joining our team gives you the opportunity to collaborate with renowned experts on challenging, paradigm-shifting work.
We are passionate about delivering in-package optical I/O at scale, leveraging the strength of our patent portfolio and our team of leading interdisciplinary experts. We believe that deep cross-collaboration between teams facilitated by honest, open debate is the best way to drive innovation and achieve big wins. Join our team and experience the possibilities.
Resources
Executives from Intel and GLOBALFOUNDRIES share their thoughts on Ayar Labs and the promise of in-package optical I/O (video)
Ayar Labs in the News and Recent announcements
LinkedIn and Twitter
Ayar Labs is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and is strongly committed to all policies which will afford equal opportunity employment to all qualified persons without regard to age, sex, national origin, race, color, ethnicity, creed, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. It is the policy of Ayar Labs to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. Veterans are more than welcome and encouraged to apply.
Ayar Labs is seeking a skilled Optical Engineer to join our Packaging Team and drive the design, simulation, and validation of advanced optical packaging solutions and optical components used in our silicon photonics platforms.
This role focuses on fiber optics, fiber-to-chip coupling interfaces, and optical connectors. You will develop and analyze coupling structures, connector interfaces, and micro-optics, ensuring high optical performance across the desired wavelength range and optical link formats in the system.
This position is ideal for a hands-on, self-driven engineer who thrives in a fast-paced environment and can move optical concepts from early design through production readiness while collaborating closely with cross-functional teams and external partners.
Responsibilities
- Design, simulate, and validate optical packaging solutions and optical components for Ayar Labs’ silicon photonics and laser packaging platforms.
- Develop and optimize optical interfaces, including fiber-to-chip coupling interfaces and optical connectors.
- Analyze package optical interface performance, including physical-layer behavior, link-layer considerations, and optical protocol requirements.
- Simulate and validate optical signal integrity across fiber-to-chip coupling and connector interfaces within the system.
- Develop optical packaging solution characterization methodologies, including system-level performance metrics, optical eye-diagram evaluation, and link performance.
- Model optical performance using tools such as Zemax or equivalent, including coupling efficiency, tolerance analysis, wavelength-dependent behavior, and environmental sensitivity.
- Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, thermal, and reliability teams, as well as suppliers and OSATs, to ensure optical interfaces meet manufacturability, performance, and reliability targets.
- BS or MS in Optics, Photonics, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
- 5 years of experience in optical design, fiber-optic systems, or connectorized optical interfaces.
- Hands-on experience with optical characterization and validation tools (e.g., optical digital communications analyzer, IL/RL measurement, mode-field analysis, beam profiling, connector inspection).
- Proficiency with optical design and simulation software (Zemax, Code V, or equivalent).
- Working knowledge of silicon photonics, fiber-optic communication principles, and semiconductor laser technologies.
- Familiarity with wavelength grid standards, optical modulation formats and eye diagram.
- Ph.D. in Physics, Photonics, Mechanical Engineering or related field
- Background in materials behavior (adhesives, epoxies) from a design or modeling perspective.
- Experience in the design of anti-reflection coatings and reflective coatings.
- Opto-mechanical design experience for connector interfaces and alignment features.
- Familiarity with semiconductor packaging, photonic integration, or OSAT manufacturing processes.
Note To Recruiters
Principals only. We are not accepting resumes from recruiters for this position. Remuneration for recruiting activities is only applicable subject to a signed and executed agreement between the parties. Please don’t send candidates to Ayar Labs, and do not contact our managers.
About Ayar Labs
At Ayar Labs we’re about to revolutionize computing by moving data with light. We’re unleashing processing power for artificial intelligence, high performance computing, cloud and telecommunications by removing the bottlenecks created by today’s electrical I/O -- making it possible to continue scaling computing system performance. Ayar Labs is the first to deliver an optical I/O solution that combines in-package optical I/O chiplets and multi-wavelength remote light sources to replace traditional electrical I/O. This silicon photonics-based I/O solution enables chips to communicate with each other from millimeters to kilometers, to deliver orders of magnitude improvements in latency, bandwidth density, and power consumption.
With our strong collaborations with industry leaders and government, our deep ties to MIT and UC Berkeley, and our commitment to hiring the best engineers in photonics and electronics, joining our team gives you the opportunity to collaborate with renowned experts on challenging, paradigm-shifting work.
We are passionate about delivering in-package optical I/O at scale, leveraging the strength of our patent portfolio and our team of leading interdisciplinary experts. We believe that deep cross-collaboration between teams facilitated by honest, open debate is the best way to drive innovation and achieve big wins. Join our team and experience the possibilities.
Resources
Executives from Intel and GLOBALFOUNDRIES share their thoughts on Ayar Labs and the promise of in-package optical I/O (video)
Ayar Labs in the News and Recent announcements
LinkedIn and Twitter
Ayar Labs is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and is strongly committed to all policies which will afford equal opportunity employment to all qualified persons without regard to age, sex, national origin, race, color, ethnicity, creed, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. It is the policy of Ayar Labs to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. Veterans are more than welcome and encouraged to apply.
Salary : $170,000 - $223,000
