Lightmatter Logo

Lightmatter

Electro-Optic Systems Architect

Posted One Month Ago
Be an Early Applicant
In-Office
Boston, MA, USA
212K-326K Annually
Expert/Leader
In-Office
Boston, MA, USA
212K-326K Annually
Expert/Leader
Own the digital architecture of Lightmatter’s Passage photonic computing product from concept through high-volume production. Architect system-level digital designs integrating analog, mixed-signal, and photonic circuits, including DSP, FEC, CRC, stabilization, tuning, and adaptation. Collaborate with chip design, RTL, verification, firmware, test, validation, product, and applications teams. Develop specifications, validate prototypes against simulations, support hardware bring-up, and create customer-facing datasheets and reference designs.
The summary above was generated by AI

Lightmatter is leading the revolution in AI data center infrastructure, enabling the next giant leaps in human progress. The company invented the world’s first 3D-stacked photonics engine, Passage™, capable of connecting thousands to millions of processors at the speed of light in extreme-scale data centers for the most advanced AI and HPC workloads.

Lightmatter raised $400 million in its Series D round, reaching a valuation of $4.4 billion. We will continue to accelerate the development of data center photonics and grow every department at Lightmatter!

If you're passionate about tackling complex challenges, making an impact, and being an expert in your craft, join our team of brilliant scientists, engineers, and accomplished industry leaders.

Lightmatter is (re)inventing the future of computing with light!

Lightmatter builds chips that enable extreme-scale AI computing clusters. If you're a collaborative engineer or scientist who has a passion for innovation, solving challenging technical problems and doing impactful work, consider joining the team at Lightmatter!

We are hiring a Principal Electro-Optic Systems Architect. The selected candidate will partner with external facing teams at Lightmatter and internal engineering teams to deliver groundbreaking products to the market. In this role, you will be responsible for ensuring that Passage’s electrical-optical-electrical links are performant and meet customer requirements. You will engage with our cross-disciplinary engineering teams to model and analyze solutions. You may also test and measure prototypes to validate the models. This role requires a solid understanding of leading-edge CMOS, advanced silicon photonics, high-speed (40+ GHz) electro-optic interfaces, and 3D integration. The role also requires creativity, analytical skills, and clear communication skills. You are encouraged to represent the company at technical conferences as an example of our technical leadership.

Join a tight-knit team where each individual’s contributions directly influence the success of the company and product. You'll have the opportunity to build a new kind of computer from the ground up and to solve groundbreaking challenges along the way. Work with people who love to build and who thrive in technically diverse environments where great ideas are prioritized.

Responsibilities
  • Be the architecture owner of the electro-optic performance of a Lightmatter’s Passage product.
  • Electro-optic system modeling using Cadence photonics-analog simulators (Verilog-A, Spectre, Virtuoso), VPI Photonics, and Keysight ADS
  • Design the end-to-end electrical-optical-electrical system-level link to meet the customer requirements.
  • Co-design the analog and photonic devices with the engineering design teams based on the end-to-end simulation results.
  • Validate the models by designing high-speed RF experiments, conducting proof-of-concept experiments, and analyzing existing data.
  • Author, review, and validate architectural specifications.
  • Collaborate with the product team to develop the technological and product roadmap in the context of the industry trends
  • Identify possible pitfalls or difficulties, as well as mitigation strategies, around the execution of the proposed architecture.
Qualifications 
  • A Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering or similar discipline with at least 8 years of relevant experience, or Master’s degree with at least 12 years of relevant experience.
  • Minimum 3 years of experience in electronic-photonic-electronic systems simulation and hardware testing/measurement.
  • Proficient in Cadence photonics-analog simulators (Virtuoso, Spectre, Verilog-A), Ansys HFSS, Keysight ADS.
  • Highly proficient in coding simulations in Python or Matlab.
  • Highly proficient in RF/mm-wave analog circuit design as well as modeling optical communication links.
  • Ability to lead and collaborate in a cross-disciplinary team.
  • Expert on corner analysis and Monte Carlo analysis.
  • Demonstrated strong problem solving skills specifically pertaining to problems that do not have obvious solutions.
Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience in product development or projects with industry.
  • Silicon photonic integrated circuit design and test experience.
  • Knowledge of signal processing and signal integrity in optical communications.
  • Knowledge of SERDES and mixed signal interfaces.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Willingness and ability to learn quickly. Self-starter with a “no task is too big or small” attitude.
  • Data-driven and analytical; translates numbers into actionable strategies.
  • Process-oriented and programmatic: builds structure through processes that can be relied upon across the organization.

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.
$212,000—$326,000 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. Lightmatter recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.

Export Control

Candidates should have capacity to comply with the federally mandated requirements of U.S. export control laws. 

HQ

Lightmatter Boston, Massachusetts, USA Office

At Lightmatter, we have a flexible work structure; employees work remotely and work from our physical offices located in Boston, MA, and Mountain View, CA

Similar Jobs

6 Minutes Ago
Hybrid
Boston, MA, USA
175K-215K Annually
Senior level
175K-215K Annually
Senior level
Fitness • Hardware • Healthtech • Sports • Wearables
Leads advanced electrical R&D for next-generation wearable sensing technologies. Responsibilities include sensor and signal-chain development, circuit design, experimentation, system characterization, data analysis, validation, root-cause investigations, and hardware debugging. Partners cross-functionally with mechanical, firmware, signal processing, and research teams to define requirements and improve sensing performance. Provides technical leadership and mentorship while remaining hands-on throughout prototyping and design iteration.
Top Skills: Analog Circuit DesignCircuit SimulationDigital Circuit DesignHardware DebuggingPythonSensor InterfacesSignal IntegritySystem Telemetry
6 Minutes Ago
Hybrid
Boston, MA, USA
90K-130K Annually
Senior level
90K-130K Annually
Senior level
Fitness • Hardware • Healthtech • Sports • Wearables
Leads WHOOP’s Distributed Research team and strategy for large-scale decentralized data collection. Responsibilities include managing and developing researchers, prioritizing initiatives, allocating resources, partnering with research, product, engineering, and platform teams, improving research technologies and workflows, monitoring performance metrics, and advocating for distributed research and survey science best practices.
Top Skills: Ai ToolsDigital Whoop LabsMachine Learning
15 Minutes Ago
Hybrid
Boston, MA, USA
99K-190K Annually
Senior level
99K-190K Annually
Senior level
Blockchain • Fintech • Payments • Consulting • Cryptocurrency • Cybersecurity • Quantum Computing
Supports strategic global accounts by coordinating customer engagement, account planning, proposals, RFPs, business cases, commercial opportunities, and cross-functional execution. Prepares executive meetings and business reviews, tracks commitments, aligns internal stakeholders, and helps advance partnerships and strategic initiatives across Mastercard’s acquiring and payments ecosystem.
Top Skills: Commerce PlatformsDigital CommerceDigital PaymentsPayment Acquiring Platforms

What you need to know about the Boston Tech Scene

Boston is a powerhouse for technology innovation thanks to world-class research universities like MIT and Harvard and a robust pipeline of venture capital investment. Host to the first telephone call and one of the first general-purpose computers ever put into use, Boston is now a hub for biotechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence — though it’s also home to several B2B software giants. So it’s no surprise that the city consistently ranks among the greatest startup ecosystems in the world.

Key Facts About Boston Tech

  • Number of Tech Workers: 269,000; 9.4% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
  • Major Tech Employers: Thermo Fisher Scientific, Toast, Klaviyo, HubSpot, DraftKings
  • Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, robotics, software, aerospace
  • Funding Landscape: $15.7 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
  • Notable Investors: Summit Partners, Volition Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, MassVentures, Highland Capital Partners
  • Research Centers and Universities: MIT, Harvard University, Boston College, Tufts University, Boston University, Northeastern University, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, National Bureau of Economic Research, Broad Institute, Lowell Center for Space Science & Technology, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account