Senior Photonics Design Engineer

Location: Toronto, Canada
Employment Type: Full-time
Salary: $120,000-$170,000 CAD
Working Arrangement: Remote – provided you are in the US and able to travel on-site occasionally.

About the Opportunity

My client is an innovative technology company operating at the forefront of advanced photonics and next-generation computing.

They are seeking a Senior Photonics Design Engineer to contribute to the design, optimisation and development of advanced integrated optical components. The successful candidate will work across device simulation, photonic layout, fabrication and performance validation, helping to improve component performance and support the development of scalable photonic technologies.

This is an opportunity to join a multidisciplinary engineering environment working on technically challenging R&D projects.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and optimise integrated optical components for advanced photonic applications.

• Work with fabrication and testing teams to improve device performance and manufacturing consistency.

• Develop automated design and optimisation workflows for photonic devices.

• Manage photonic layout, mask preparation and design verification activities.

• Analyse fabrication and testing data to identify performance improvements.

• Evaluate different simulation methodologies and optimise computational efficiency.

• Support the development of reusable photonic design libraries and components.

• Investigate fabrication-related variations and their impact on optical performance.

• Contribute to design reviews, technical discussions and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Support photonic device development from initial concept through to fabrication and validation.

Requirements

• MSc or PhD in Photonics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering or a related discipline.

• Minimum of 2 years’ experience within an industrial engineering or R&D environment.

• Strong understanding of integrated photonics and passive optical component design.

• Experience with scripted photonic layout and mask design.

• Demonstrated experience contributing to multiple PIC tape-outs.

• Knowledge of optical losses, fabrication tolerances and their impact on device performance.

• Experience with photonic simulation tools and an understanding of their limitations.

• Familiarity with version control systems such as Git.

• Strong analytical skills and the ability to manage multiple technical projects.

Desirable Experience

• Experience designing active photonic components, including phase shifters and photodetectors.

• Knowledge of nonlinear optics, resonators and coupled-mode theory.

• Experience working with commercial photonic foundries and fabrication processes.

• Familiarity with design of experiments (DOE), statistical analysis and wafer-level optimisation.

• Experience with automated optimisation techniques, including Bayesian optimisation or particle swarm methods.

• Knowledge of design rule checking (DRC), layout verification and mask data preparation.

• Experience with electro-optic co-design and integration of photonic devices with electronic circuitry.

• Familiarity with manufacturing correction techniques and process variation analysis.

Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

Hashim Akram