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!
We are hiring a Photonics Architect. The selected candidate will partner with the internal engineering team to deliver groundbreaking products to the market. As an architect, you will provide detailed technical documents that describe what needs to be built to the engineering team. This will require a solid understanding of process technology, state of the art in photonics design, and clear communication skills. In this role, you will be defining the (micro-)architecture for a ground-breaking photonic-based communication fabric. From component-level design to top-level layout, you will be part of a team that a
Responsibilities:
- Propose innovative photonic designs—modulators, receivers, multiplexers, lasers, amplifiers—for the product.
- Work closely with the photonic engineering design team to provide the performance, power, and area estimates of the photonic devices within Passage.
- Actively collaborate with the analog engineering team to provide a high-bandwidth photonic interconnect solution.
- Author, review, and validate architectural specifications.
Qualifications:
- PhD in electrical engineering, physics, applied physics, or a discipline related to photonics.
- In-depth knowledge of photonic devices and semiconductor physics.
- Experience with integrated silicon photonics components. Preferably has experience with photonic simulation tools: FDTD, umerical, Verilog-A, VPI Photonics.
- Ability and desire to collaborate in a cross-disciplinary team.
- Demonstrated strong problem solving skills specifically pertaining to problems that do not have obvious solutions.
We offer competitive compensation. The base salary range for this role determined based on location, experience, educational background, and market data.
- 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.
Skills Required
- PhD in electrical engineering, physics, applied physics, or related photonics discipline.
- In-depth knowledge of photonic devices and semiconductor physics.
- Experience with integrated silicon photonics components.
- Experience with photonic simulation tools (FDTD, Verilog-A, VPI Photonics).
- Ability and desire to collaborate in a cross-disciplinary team.
- Strong problem-solving skills for non-obvious technical challenges.
Lightmatter Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Lightmatter and has not been reviewed or approved by Lightmatter.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered competitive for specialized photonics and AI‑hardware roles, with posted ranges and third‑party totals aligning to strong market levels. Compensation for niche roles is framed as consistent with top‑tier hardware/photonics expectations.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare is described as comprehensive, covering medical, dental, and vision in current postings. Additional protections like life insurance and disability are also called out.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity grants for full‑time employees are commonly included alongside base pay. Some postings also mention performance‑based equity components.
Lightmatter Insights
What We Do
Lightmatter is a startup photonics company that has pioneered a new paradigm in processor chip architecture that uses photons instead of electrons. Now the leader in the photonic AI compute “space race,” this new class of high performance semiconductors is the foundation of Lightmatter’s mission to enable the growth of computing, reduce harmful emissions associated with this growth, and democratize computing for all. Lightmatter's technology accelerates critical operations in deep neural networks, using an array of programmable photonic elements fabricated alongside transistors in conventional computer chip fabrication processes. Our close-knit team of engineers has created an integrated photonics chip and ultra-high performance interconnect that is faster, more efficient, and cooler than anything else on earth (or anything ever experienced before) to power the next giant leaps in human progress.
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