CEO (Chief Executive Officer)

We are seeking a world-class CEO to lead a breakthrough deep-tech company at the intersection of semiconductors, photonics, and next-generation data center connectivity. This is a rare opportunity to build and scale a category-defining platform with global impact, shaping the future of optical interconnects, advanced packaging, and high-performance computing infrastructure.

The ideal candidate is a proven company builder with the technical depth, commercial instinct, and investor credibility to take a frontier technology business from early momentum to global scale. You will lead strategy, fundraising, partnerships, customer engagement, and organizational build-out across the US and Asia, while positioning the company for a long-term path to major strategic exit or public market readiness.

What You Will Bring

You have a distinguished track record of founding or leading a deep-tech company through significant value creation, including an acquisition or IPO exceeding $500 million, or taking a semiconductor or photonics company to a NASDAQ or NYSE listing. You bring at least 15 years of experience spanning semiconductors, photonics, optical communications, or advanced manufacturing, and you have repeatedly demonstrated the ability to scale ambitious technologies into commercially meaningful businesses.

You are a credible fundraising leader with a history of raising more than $50 million from top-tier US institutional venture investors. You know how to translate complex technical advantage into a compelling capital markets story, and you can attract conviction from both financial backers and strategic stakeholders.

Technical and Market Leadership

You possess deep understanding of data center optical interconnect architecture, including co-packaged optics, high-speed optical transceivers at 400G, 800G, and 1.6T, and silicon photonics platforms. You are comfortable engaging directly with hyperscalers, network equipment providers, semiconductor foundries, and advanced manufacturing partners on both technical and strategic matters.

You have enough fluency in semiconductor process technology to work credibly with foundry partners such as TSMC and GlobalFoundries, while also earning the confidence of OEM and platform customers. Experience with micro-transfer printing, heterogeneous integration, or advanced packaging is highly valued, with direct hands-on exposure particularly attractive.

Strategic Network and Ecosystem Access

You bring an established network at the VP or SVP level across major industry players such as NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom, Cisco, Intel, Meta, Google, and Microsoft, or equivalent hyperscaler and networking hardware organizations. These relationships enable faster market access, stronger partnership development, and early customer insight.

You also have trusted relationships with leading deep-tech investors including firms such as Lux Capital, DCVC, Andreessen Horowitz American Dynamism, Eclipse, Khosla, Sequoia, or Playground Global. Familiarity with government-backed innovation and industrial funding is important, including the US CHIPS Act, DARPA, and Department of Energy programs, as well as Singapore ecosystem support through EDB, NRF, and A*STAR.

Operational Scope

This role requires a leader who is comfortable operating across Silicon Valley and Singapore, with a willingness to be based in Silicon Valley and travel regularly to Singapore, at minimum monthly. You should have experience managing dual-geography operations across the US and Asia and be energized by building globally integrated teams. You must also be aligned with early-stage realities, including equity-heavy compensation and long-horizon value creation.

Strongly Preferred

Especially attractive candidates will bring direct experience in photonics, lithium niobate, or optical modulator technologies. Prior time as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at a top-tier venture firm would be highly advantageous, especially where it creates immediate fundraising leverage and access. Public company board experience in the semiconductor sector is also valued, particularly for candidates who can help guide governance maturity on a future NASDAQ trajectory.

A technical degree in electrical engineering, applied physics, materials science, or photonics is preferred, with a PhD welcomed but not essential for candidates with exceptional commercial success. Experience with university technology transfer, IP licensing, and academic founder dynamics would be highly beneficial, as would familiarity with the APAC semiconductor ecosystem, including players such as TSMC, Samsung Foundry, ASE, Inari, and Singapore-based operations.

Why This Role

This is not a maintenance CEO role. It is a builder’s role. A systems-level role. A roll-up-your-sleeves-and-bend-the-curve-of-an-industry role. The company needs a leader who can connect frontier science to product-market reality, investor conviction, manufacturing execution, and strategic scale. Someone who can walk into a room of chip executives, top-tier VCs, research founders, and government stakeholders and make each of them believe, correctly, that the future is being assembled here.

Please be informed that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Job Type: 2-year Contract

Organization: NUS Enterprise