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!
At Lightmatter, an SDET is a software engineer first , not a QA coordinator or manual tester. You'll design and build the frameworks, harnesses, and hardware-in-the-loop infrastructure that let firmware engineers test their own code continuously on real photonic hardware. You'll sit with the firmware team, spend time at the bench with oscilloscopes, debuggers, and optical instruments, and serve as the bridge between firmware and broader software and systems organizations.
Responsibilities
- Own the architecture and roadmap of the firmware test automation framework across products, targets, sites, and teams
- Design and build stable automation for new firmware features and hardware, held to production-quality engineering standards
- Build and operate HIL test infrastructure: bench and rack fixtures, device farms, power/reset control, instrument integration, and CI orchestration on real photonic hardware
- Define test strategy, plans, and reporting; lead test plan reviews across teams
- Integrate firmware testing into CI/CD so every change is built, flashed, exercised on hardware, and reported automatically
- Own framework reliability and flaky test metrics as first-class engineering problems
- Build results, telemetry, and log pipelines for triage, trend analysis, and release decisions
- Debug failures across the full stack (firmware, board, instrument, fixture, test code) and partner with engineers to resolve them
- Participate in firmware design reviews to influence testability and diagnostics early
- Integrate with data center management interfaces (CMIS, OpenBMC, DMTF); debug embedded systems using GDB, JTAG, and logic analyzers
- Define diagnostics and monitoring architecture for photonic transceivers
- Mentor engineers on test architecture and write clear documentation for non-specialists
Qualifications
- 8+ years of professional software development, primarily on embedded products, including designing test frameworks and infrastructure
- BS or MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent experience
- At least one automation framework or HIL system architected and built from scratch, adopted by other engineers, and in daily use and the ability to discuss its design, tradeoffs, and lessons learned
- Strong Python: fixture and abstraction layers, hardware drivers, plugin/configuration architectures
- Working fluency in embedded C/C++: able to read firmware drivers or state machines and write tests for edge cases
- Experience owning CI/CD pipelines running tests on physical hardware (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, or equivalent), including runner health, hardware allocation, and recovery
- Track record of delivering robust automation under fast-changing requirements and hardware
Preferred Qualifications
- PhD, or MS with 8+ years in embedded test automation or firmware development
- Experience testing firmware for optical transceivers, photonic systems, or precision analog/mixed-signal hardware
- Familiarity with CMIS, OpenBMC, or DMTF/Redfish
- Experience with Pytest ecosystem and test tooling for Zephyr or FreeRTOS (Twister, ztest, Renode, QEMU, or similar)
- Experience with optical and electrical test and measurement equipment
- Startup experience
- Thoughtful use of AI-assisted tools in test generation, triage, or analytics
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
- 8+ years of professional software development experience, primarily with embedded products and test frameworks or infrastructure
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent experience
- Architected and built at least one automation framework or hardware-in-the-loop system from scratch, adopted and used daily by other engineers
- Strong Python skills, including fixture and abstraction layers, hardware drivers, and plugin or configuration architectures
- Working fluency in embedded C and C++, including reading firmware drivers or state machines and writing edge-case tests
- Experience owning CI/CD pipelines that run tests on physical hardware, including runner health, hardware allocation, and recovery
- Track record of delivering robust automation under changing requirements and hardware
- Capacity to comply with federally mandated U.S. export control requirements
- PhD, or master’s degree with 8+ years in embedded test automation or firmware development
- Experience testing firmware for optical transceivers, photonic systems, or precision analog and mixed-signal hardware
- Familiarity with CMIS, OpenBMC, or DMTF/Redfish
- Experience with Pytest and test tooling for Zephyr or FreeRTOS, including Twister, ztest, Renode, or QEMU
- Experience with optical and electrical test and measurement equipment
- Startup experience
- Experience using AI-assisted tools for test generation, triage, or analytics
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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