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!
Lightmatter's Supply Chain Operations team designs and executes the complex, global manufacturing networks required to build our world-first photonic engines at scale. We partner seamlessly with critical component vendors and Tier-1 manufacturing partners to deliver a resilient, cost-effective, and rapid flow of cutting-edge hardware.
As an Operations Program Manager, you will serve as the primary operational program owner driving supplier execution, Statement of Work governance, and master build planning across silicon foundries, Tier-1/Tier-2 OSATs, and Contract Manufacturers. Operating with high autonomy, you will bridge internal R&D, Packaging Engineering, Quality, and Commercial teams with external vendor leadership to drive NPI builds through to High-Volume Manufacturing.
In this role, you will immediately take operational ownership of active Passage and/or Guide programs. You will maintain complete control over multi-tier material availability tracking, Clear-To-Build readiness, vendor milestone enforcement, and cross-functional schedule alignment.
Core Responsibilities- Serve as the senior operational leader owning the complete material development lifecycle from NPI through HVM. You will act as the primary operations counterpart to engineering and quality teams, collaborating directly with external vendors to ensure all hardware materials are realized and available to support the master schedule.
- Drive end-to-end operational execution for assigned electro-optical program lines by aligning customer and internal demand into master build plans spanning silicon foundries, OSATs, and Contract Manufacturers.
- Build and maintain virtual line-item Clear-To-Build (CTB) matrices across multi-tier suppliers. You will track component lead times and drive consigned material staging into OSAT and CM facilities to guarantee unblocked build execution.
- Partner with engineering leads to draft, enforce, and track vendor Statements of Work. You will conduct weekly operational progress reviews, hold suppliers accountable to milestone deliverables, and drive overall vendor execution metrics.
- Actively track and resolve critical-path dependencies that impact external manufacturing, driving internal teams to provide the design freeze sign-offs, ECO cut-ins, and test scripts required by vendor partners to proceed with production.
- Maintain transparent milestone risk logs, material readiness trackers, and build progress dashboards to consistently communicate program status and critical path risks to executive leadership with actionable mitigation plans.
- Own PLM workflows across the product lifecycle, which includes creating and managing Bills of Materials and directly managing the routing and approval of Engineering Change Orders.
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business Management, Engineering, or a related field, complemented by relevant operational experience.
- 8+ years of progressive experience in Operations Program Management or Partner Operations within high-tech hardware, semiconductors, optical networking, or silicon photonics.
- Proven track record directly managing external manufacturing partners, contract manufacturers, silicon foundries, or OSATs through complex NPI-to-HVM build cycles.
- Advanced expertise constructing multi-tier master schedules, tracking material availability, and enforcing line-item CTB matrices across multi-stage assembly flows.
- Executive presence, influence, and assertiveness necessary to drive both internal engineering teams and external partner program managers to strict milestone dates.
- Hands-on experience executing BOM management, ECO routing, and revision control within PLM systems, alongside working within ERP/MRP environments.
- A Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, or a technical discipline is strongly preferred.
- Highly value direct experience managing operational supplier partnerships specifically in electro-optical packaging, silicon photonics, high-speed optical transceivers, or AI compute hardware.
- Desire a deep understanding of multi-tier semiconductor transitions, from wafer sort through advanced packaging to final module assembly.
- Hands-on experience executing BOM management, ECO routing, and revision control within PLM software (e.g., Arena, Agile, Teamcenter, or similar).
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
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business Management, Engineering, or a related field
- 8+ years of progressive experience in Operations Program Management or Partner Operations within high-tech hardware, semiconductors, optical networking, or silicon photonics
- Experience directly managing external manufacturing partners, contract manufacturers, silicon foundries, or OSATs through complex NPI-to-HVM build cycles
- Advanced expertise constructing multi-tier master schedules, tracking material availability, and enforcing line-item Clear-To-Build matrices across multi-stage assembly flows
- Executive presence, influence, and assertiveness to drive internal engineering teams and external partner program managers to milestone dates
- Hands-on experience with BOM management, ECO routing, and revision control in PLM systems, plus ERP/MRP environments
- Master's degree in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, or a technical discipline
- Experience managing supplier partnerships in electro-optical packaging, silicon photonics, high-speed optical transceivers, or AI compute hardware
- Understanding of semiconductor transitions from wafer sort through advanced packaging to final module assembly
- Hands-on experience with PLM software such as Arena, Agile, Teamcenter, or similar
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Gallery
