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!
Product Engineering builds the software that brings up, characterizes, and qualifies Lightmatter's photonic chips on real hardware — from bench-top bring-up through production test on automated test equipment (ATE). You'll write the code that drives instruments, testers, wafer probers, and lab automation to bring a chip to life and prove it works. Test software infrastructure at Lightmatter spans multiple platforms, wafer test, hardware validation, and laser/optical test, and this role often acts as the bridge between engineers working at the bench and the broader test software team.
As a Hardware Test Automation Engineer you'll have the opportunity to work across some combination of: an internal test software framework (Java/Python-based), industry-standard ATE test method and testflow development, wafer prober integration, instrument control (optical and electrical sources, meters, sensors), embedded/firmware interfaces on the hardware side, and data pipelines from lab equipment to structured results.
Responsibilities- Learn the hardware you're automating well enough to make informed software decisions about it.
- Design and build test software that automates device bring-up, characterization, and production test sequences across bench and ATE environments.
- Develop and maintain test methods, test flows, and instrument control code depending on level and project while writing code and reviewing code are both daily parts of the role.
- Work directly with hardware and characterization engineers to understand their needs and translate device physics and test requirements into working, repeatable test software.
- Build and maintain data logging and results pipelines so test data is captured accurately and usable downstream (metric computation, yield analysis, production handoff).
- Debug test hardware/software integration issues, working across the device under test, the fixture, the instrument, and the test code to find root cause.
- Support test program releases to internal test cells and, at senior levels, to external test facilities.
- Communicate daily with the team on progress and blockers, and spend regular time in the lab working hands-on with hardware.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related field.
- 8+ years of experience in hardware test software, ATE systems, or test architecture, ideally in semiconductor or photonics.
- Track record of owning test software architecture for a product line, including decisions on how the framework scales across projects and teams.
- Deep hands-on experience with ATE test method/test flow development and/or embedded test frameworks for hardware test automation, plus fluency with instrumentation automation (SCPI/VISA or equivalent) at a level where you can teach it to others.
- History of mentoring engineers and driving cross-functional technical decisions with hardware, characterization, and manufacturing teams.
- Can articulate, end to end, how they scoped, planned, implemented, and validated an automation project.
- Comfortable working at the hardware/software boundary — reading and reasoning about embedded software (C/C++), controls, or firmware well enough to co-develop directly with the engineers who own it.
- Master's/PhD with 3+ years, of experience in hardware test software, ATE systems, or test architecture, ideally in semiconductor or photonics.
- Experience integrating ATE with wafer-level hardware (probers, handlers) is a strong plus.
- Experience with photonic test instrumentation
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 Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
- 8+ years of experience in hardware test software, ATE systems, or test architecture
- Experience owning test software architecture for a product line and scaling frameworks across projects and teams
- Hands-on experience with ATE test method or test flow development and/or embedded test frameworks for hardware automation
- Fluency with instrumentation automation using SCPI, VISA, or an equivalent technology
- Experience mentoring engineers and driving cross-functional technical decisions
- Ability to scope, plan, implement, and validate automation projects end to end
- Ability to read and reason about embedded software, controls, or firmware, including C/C++
- Master's or PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience
- Experience integrating ATE with wafer-level hardware, probers, or handlers
- Experience with photonic test instrumentation
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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