Optical Engineer, PIC Design & Analysis

Optical Engineer, PIC Design & Analysis

Location:

100% Onsite at Redmond, WA

Contract Duration: 2 years contract

Pay Rate: $80/hr on W2

Benefits:
Health, Dental, Vision, PTO, 401K

The team is seeking an Optical Engineer III specializing in Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) design, simulation, layout, fabrication, and validation to contribute to the development of next-generation near-to-eye display technologies.

This role is focused specifically on waveguide-based photonic integrated circuits, including devices such as Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), ring resonators, grating couplers, splitters, and other integrated photonic components.

The ideal candidate will have demonstrated hands-on experience taking PIC designs from device concept and simulation through layout, fabrication/tapeout, and experimental validation. The engineer will work closely with researchers, technical program managers, engineering leadership, and external fabrication partners to translate photonic concepts into manufacturable devices.

This is not a general optical engineering or optical metrology role. Candidates must demonstrate direct PIC design experience.

The engineer will join an R&D organization focused on advanced near-to-eye display systems and integrated photonics. The role serves as a key technical contributor, working alongside full-time engineering leads, researchers, technical program managers, and cross-functional partners. The engineer will help bridge PIC device design, fabrication, experimental validation, and program objectives.

• Design and develop photonic integrated circuits (PICs) from individual component blocks through complete circuit implementations.
• Design waveguide-based photonic devices such as MZIs, ring resonators, grating couplers, splitters, tapers, and related PIC components.
• Perform photonic device and circuit simulation, optimization, and parametric analysis.
• Generate fabrication-ready GDSII layouts and ensure compliance with semiconductor foundry Process Design Kits (PDKs).
• Support PIC designs through the complete design-to-fabrication and tapeout lifecycle.
• Incorporate fabrication constraints—including propagation loss, sidewall roughness, minimum feature sizes, bend radii, etch variation, and process variability—into device and circuit designs.
• Conduct design-space exploration, sensitivity analysis, and performance/yield modeling.
• Collaborate with commercial foundries and external partners to prepare designs for fabrication.
• Characterize and validate fabricated PIC devices using optical and electro-optic measurement techniques.
• Analyze expected versus measured performance, including optical loss, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), coupling efficiency, and other relevant performance metrics.
• Identify sources of performance gaps between simulation/design expectations and experimental measurements.
• Collaborate with researchers, engineers, Technical Program Managers, and program leadership to align PIC development with broader technology objectives.
• Contribute technical insights to the development of advanced photonic technologies for next-generation near-to-eye display systems.

• Completed M.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Optical Sciences, Physics, Photonics, or a closely related technical discipline.
• 3+ years of hands-on PIC design, simulation, and layout experience for visible or infrared wavelengths.
• Experience designing waveguide-based PIC devices, such as:
  Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), ring resonators, grating couplers, optical splitters/combiners, wave guides and tapers, active photonic components.
• 3+ years of experience with photonic device simulation and electromagnetic modeling tools such as Lumerical FDTD/MODE/DEVICE, Ansys Photonics, Synopsys RSoft, or COMSOL Multiphysics.
• 2+ years of experience with PIC layout and GDSII generation using tools such as KLayout, Cadence Virtuoso, gdsfactory, or equivalent.
• Experience working with foundry PDKs, design rules, and fabrication constraints.
• 2+ years of scientific programming experience using Python, MATLAB, or equivalent for design automation, modeling, and data analysis.
• Experience…