Senior Principal Engineer, Silicon Photonics Architect

Renesas is one of the top global semiconductor companies in the world. We strive to develop a safer, healthier, greener, and smarter world, and our goal is to make every endpoint intelligent by offering product solutions in the automotive, industrial, infrastructure and IoT markets. Our robust product portfolio includes world-leading MCUs, SoCs, analog and power products, plus Winning Combination solutions that curate these complementary products. We are a key supplier to the world’s leading manufacturers of electronics you rely on every day; you may not see our products, but they are all around you.

Renesas employs roughly 21,000 people in more than 30 countries worldwide. As a global team, our employees actively embody the Renesas Culture, our guiding principles based on five key elements: Transparent, Agile, Global, Innovative, and Entrepreneurial. Renesas believes in, and has a commitment to, diversity and inclusion, with initiatives and a leadership team dedicated to its resources and values. At Renesas, we want to build a sustainable future where technology helps make our lives easier. Join us and build your future by being part of what’s next in electronics and the world.

Lead the architecture and provide guidance for technical execution of photonic integrated circuit (PIC) and electronic integrated circuit (EIC) platforms, delivering pilot projects that prove technology feasibility, system value, manufacturability, and a path to productization.

Job Summary

• Own end-to-end architecture for silicon photonics solutions that combine PICs, EICs, advanced packaging, optical interfaces, firmware, and system-level control.
• Translate product, customer, and business requirements into system architecture, technical specifications, performance budgets, interfaces, technology choices, and executable pilot plans.
• Define and deliver pilot demonstrators that de-risk critical capabilities such as optical I/O, co-packaged optics, chiplet connectivity, sensing, or other strategic silicon-photonics use cases.
• Provide technical leadership across concept, modeling, design, tape-out, packaging, bring-up, characterization, and proof-of-value demonstrations.
• Build a pragmatic roadmap from prototype to scalable products, including platform reuse, ecosystem choices, and make/buy/partner recommendations
• Define system requirements and partition functionality across PIC, EIC, package, substrate/interposer, optics, firmware, and host interfaces
• Create link and system budgets covering optical loss, laser power, modulation, receiver sensitivity, signal integrity, power, thermal behavior, latency, reliability, and testability
• Guide PIC architecture and design tradeoffs involving modulators, photodetectors, waveguides, couplers, filters, splitters, monitors, and calibration structures
• Guide EIC architecture and tradeoffs involving laser/modulator drivers, TIAs, clocking/CDR, SerDes interfaces, ADC/DAC or control loops, telemetry, power management, and digital control
• Lead architecture reviews and design reviews; establish interface specifications, verification plans, risk registers, success criteria, and measurable pilot exit gates.
• Coordinate foundries, OSAT/advanced-packaging partners, IP vendors, EDA/tool providers, laboratories, and university or ecosystem collaborators
• Partner with product, software, design, verification, packaging, test, reliability, manufacturing, and business teams to achieve performance, cost, schedule, and quality objectives
• Mentor architects and engineers, raise technical capability across the organization, and communicate recommendations clearly to senior technical and business leaders.

Contribute to invention disclosures, patents, technical publications, supplier assessments, and longer-term silicon-photonics technology strategy

• BTech/BE, MTech/ME, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Photonics, Applied Physics, Computer Engineering, or a related field with  hardware engineering experience of 15+ years
• Deep expertise in silicon photonics, optical communications, photonic integration, electro-optic systems, or closely related semiconductor technologies
• Proven experience architecting or delivering at least one complex PIC/EIC, optical transceiver, optical I/O, co-packaged optics, or integrated photonics program from concept through silicon or hardware validation.
• Strong understanding of PIC building blocks and passive/active optical behavior, supported by modeling, simulation, laboratory characterization, and data-driven design tradeoffs.
• Strong understanding of high-speed mixed-signal EIC functions and the electrical/optical interfaces between drivers, modulators, photodetectors, TIAs, clocking, control, and digital logic.
• Working knowledge of semiconductor process technologies, PDK-based design, DFM, process variation, yield, reliability, thermal constraints, packaging, assembly, and production test.
• Ability to use or direct use of photonic, electromagnetic, circuit, link, thermal, and signal-integrity simulation tools; ability to correlate models with measured results.
• Excellent problem-solving, written and verbal communication, technical influence, teamwork, attention to detail, and commitment to execution quality.
• Prior experience with technologies and standards relevant to high-speed links, such as Ethernet/IEEE, OIF CEI, PCIe/CXL connectivity, SerDes, FEC, and system management interfaces
• Any of following experience would be a plus : Co-packaged optics, optical I/O chiplets, pluggable optical modules, data-center interconnect, AI/HPC fabrics, or high-speed Ethernet applications, Advanced packaging such as 2.5D/3D integration, interposers, hybrid bonding, flip-chip, fiber attach, laser integration, thermal solutions, and package-level optical/electrical co-design

Renesas is an embedded semiconductor solution provider driven by its Purpose ‘To Make Our Lives Easier.’ As the industry’s leading expert in embedded processing with unmatched quality and system-level know-how, we have evolved to provide scalable and comprehensive semiconductor solutions for automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT industries based on the broadest product portfolio, including High Performance Computing, Embedded Processing, Analog & Connectivity, and Power.
 
With a diverse team of over 21,000 professionals in more than 30 countries, we continue to expand our boundaries to offer enhanced user experiences through digitalization and usher into a new era of innovation. We design and develop sustainable, power-efficient solutions today that help people and communities thrive tomorrow, ‘To Make Our Lives Easier.’     
 
At Renesas, you can: 

• Launch and advance your career in technical and business roles across four Product Groups and various corporate functions. You will have the opportunities to explore our hardware and software capabilities and try new things.  

• Make a real impact by developing innovative products and solutions to meet our global customers' evolving needs and help make people’s lives easier, safe and secure. 

• Maximize your performance and wellbeing in our flexible and inclusive work environment. Our people-first culture and global support system, including the remote work option and Employee Resource Groups, will help you excel from the first day.    

Are you ready to own your success and make your mark?  

Join Renesas. Let’s Shape the Future together.  

Renesas Electronics is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, committed to supporting diversity and fostering a work environment free of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, military status, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. For more information, please read our Diversity & Inclusion Statement.

Renesas is an embedded semiconductor solution provider driven by its Purpose, To Make Our Lives Easier. With a global team of over 21,000 engineers and problem solvers in more than 30 countries, we offer the opportunity to work on world‑leading technology for Automotive, Industrial, Infrastructure, and IoT, shaping a safer, healthier, greener, and smarter future.

At Renesas, TAGIE is our culture, grounded in being Transparent, Agile, Global, Innovative, and Entrepreneurial. It shapes how we work, grow and deliver on our purpose together. This collaborative spirit and mindset drive our semiconductor technology to transform industries and impact millions of lives.

We believe in rewarding our employees with a competitive benefits package alongside their salary. More information will be provided during the hiring process.

Are you ready to join our team and shape the future with us?

Renesas Electronics is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, committed to supporting diversity and fostering a work environment free of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, military status, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. For more information, please read our Diversity & Inclusion Statement.