The Senior Silicon Photonic Design Engineer is responsible for the design, simulation, and tapeout of advanced silicon photonic integrated circuits (PICs) used in high-speed optical communication systems. This role involves developing passive and active photonic devices, integrating them into complex photonic systems such as coherent transmitters and receivers, and collaborating across multidisciplinary teams to take products from concept through production. The position requires deep expertise in photonic device physics, PIC layout and simulation tools, and experience working with external silicon photonics foundries.
Please note, this role is open to candidates in Ottawa, Canada.
What You’ll Do
- Design, verify and tape out silicon PICs, including integrated coherent transmitters and receivers.
- Develop passive and active photonic components.
- Create PIC layouts using Synopsys OptoCompiler and Cadence Virtuoso-based design flows.
- Develop PCells and scripted layouts for scalable photonic circuit design.
- Perform optical, electrical, RF and electro-optic simulations using tools such as Lumerical, CST, HFSS, Tidy3D and ADS.
- Conduct design-corner analysis and post-layout verification.
- Develop compact models and system-level simulation workflows.
- Partner with external foundries across multiple silicon photonics platforms.
- Collaborate with electronics, packaging, optical systems, test, reliability and manufacturing teams.
- Support prototype validation, qualification and New Product Introduction.
- Improve manufacturability, process robustness, yield and production performance.
- Participate in design reviews and mentor junior engineers.
What You’ll Bring
- PhD or master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Photonics or a related field.
- Five or more years of experience in silicon photonics, integrated photonics or optical communication systems.
- Proven experience with PIC tapeouts, external foundries and photonic process design kits.
- Strong knowledge of photonic device physics, PIC design and coherent optical systems.
- Experience with photonic and electromagnetic simulation tools.
- Knowledge of RF and electro-optic modelling, photonic packaging and fibre coupling.
- Programming experience for simulation automation and data analysis.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving and collaboration skills.
Our ICARE Values
Everything we do is guided by our ICARE values:
- ?? Integrity – Create an environment of trust.
- ✨ Collaboration – Innovate through the sharing of ideas.
- ?? Accountability – Own the process and the outcome.
- ?? Respect – Recognise the value in everyone.
- ?? Enthusiasm – Find a sense of purpose in work.
Note to recruiters and employment agencies: We will not pay for unsolicited resumes from recruiters and employment agencies unless we have a signed agreement and have required assistance, in writing, for a specific opening.
Skills Required
- PhD or MS in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Photonics, or related field
- 5+ years of experience in silicon photonics design or related field
- Proven experience with silicon photonics PIC tapeouts
Coherent Corp. Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Coherent Corp. and has not been reviewed or approved by Coherent Corp..
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare Strength: Health coverage includes multiple national and region-specific options (UHC HDHP/HSA, PPO, EPO; Kaiser in CA; Health Net in OR) plus separate dental (Delta Dental) and vision (VSP), indicating strong breadth and choice. This breadth supports a solid total package in certain roles and locations.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity Value & Accessibility: An Employee Stock Purchase Plan allows buying shares at 85% of market price with contributions up to 10% of pay, expanding ownership access. This feature can materially bolster total rewards even when base pay is mid‑pack.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Leave & Time Off Breadth: Paid time off includes 15 vacation days for new hires, 10 paid holidays, and additional paid time during a December shutdown. This structure provides a clear and competitive baseline for time away from work.
Coherent Corp. Insights
What We Do
Coherent empowers market innovators to define the future through breakthrough technologies, from materials to systems. We deliver innovations that resonate with our customers in diversified applications for the industrial, communications, electronics, and instrumentation markets. Headquartered in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, Coherent has research and development, manufacturing, sales, service, and distribution facilities worldwide. For more information, please visit us at coherent.com.
