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!
The Engineering team at Lightmatter
The Engineering team at Lightmatter takes photonic computing from research to reality, overseeing silicon photonics manufacturing, system integration, and 3D Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) development across the full stack, from chip to rack-scale data center deployment.
Responsibilities
Depending on your background, you'll contribute to one or more of these areas:
- Photonics & Silicon Engineering — Support design and simulation of optical components and photonic interconnects that move data at the speed of light.
- Product Engineering — Help develop and run tests that validate silicon photonics products from the lab bench to manufacturable hardware.
- Analog — Assist in the design and verification of analog and mixed-signal circuits that drive and control photonic components.
- Laser Development — Contribute to the characterization and integration of laser sources powering Lightmatter's photonic interconnect fabric.
- Systems Engineering — Support board bring-up, lab validation, and system integration of Lightmatter's photonic computing platforms.
- Digital Design — Work on RTL development, modeling of photonics circuitry, and developing algorithms and control logic for cutting-edge photonic interconnect SoCs.
- Design Verification — Help build testbenches and run simulations to verify complex chip designs meet functional and performance targets.
- Physical Design — Synthesis and timing analysis with floor planning, place-and-route, or physical verification of ASIC blocks using industry-standard EDA tools.
- Firmware Engineering — Help develop low-level drivers, active laser control algorithms, and system-level telemetry to power photonic interconnect platforms.
Qualifications
- Pursuing or recently completed a BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
- Hands-on experience through coursework, capstone projects, research labs, or past internships.
- Familiarity with at least one relevant tool — SolidWorks, ANSYS, ADS, Cadence.
- Curious, collaborative, and comfortable asking questions.
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
- Pursuing or recently completed a BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
- Hands-on experience through coursework, capstone projects, research labs, or past internships.
- Familiarity with at least one relevant tool: SolidWorks, ANSYS, ADS, or Cadence.
- Curious, collaborative, and comfortable asking questions.
- Capacity to comply with federally mandated U.S. export control requirements.
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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