{"id":1296031,"url":"https://alion.io/job/openlight-photonics-cadpdk-engineer","title":"CAD/PDK Engineer","company":{"id":2264134,"name":"OpenLight Photonics","domain":"openlightphotonics.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/openlightphotonics","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Kula","truth_index":null},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Goleta, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":130000,"max":230000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":230000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Agile","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"KLayout","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-25T09:11:46Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-25","last_verified_at":"2026-09-27T02:49:17Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"The Role\nThis is a software and EDA role at the center of a Silicon Photonics company. If you've worked with CAD or EDA tooling, done mask layout, or verification infrastructure in any semiconductor domain - or you're a strong Python engineer who wants to work close to silicon - we'd like to talk. Familiarity, or a strong interest, with optics or photonics preferred.\nWorking at the hub of the wheel that is OpenLight’s technology, you will build and maintain the software that turns photonic chip designs into manufacturable mask data. As a key member of OpenLight's Design Enablement team, you'll own the automation behind our process design kit (PDK), our mask build flows, and our physical verification infrastructure - the tooling that we rely on every day.\nWhat You Will Do\nDevelop and maintain automated mask build workflows that assemble PIC designs into GDS artwork, reproducibly and on schedule\n\nBuild and release the OpenLight PDK: device libraries, parameterized cells, compact models, and symbol/schematic views across our EDA platformsOwn physical verification infrastructure\n\nStand up CI/CD pipelines, regression suites, and automated QA to maintain a robust PDK and mask release process\n\nPartner with EDA vendors to bring up and validate our PDK on their platforms\n\nWork alongside process engineers, device designers, and PIC Architects to turn manual, error-prone steps into automated workflows\n\nMonitor for quality escapes, perform root cause analysis, and drive the improvements that prevent recurrence\n\nYour Background Includes\nB.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Physics, or a related discipline - or equivalent practical experience\n\nStrong Python skills and solid software engineering fundamentals\n\nExperience with version control, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile development practices\n\nExposure to EDA tool flows or their scripting interfaces - for example SKILL, Tcl, Synopsys ICV, KLayout, IPKISS, or GDSFactory - or a demonstrated ability to pick up domain tooling quickly\n\nStrong problem solving, communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills\n\nAbout OpenLight\nOpenLight Photonics is an innovative start-up at the forefront of photonic integration, commercializing our cutting-edge heterogeneously integrated silicon photonics platform. OpenLight has a PDK that supports customers designing Photonic ASICs (PASICs) for applications in communications, LIDAR, quantum computing, sensing, and more. OpenLight has over 300 patents covering the integration of many different active and passive components, such as tunable lasers, DFBs, SOAs, modulators, switches, filters, and detectors, onto a single, silicon photonics chip. Join us in an exciting start-up environment with ample opportunities for growth and professional development.\nWe continue with a hybrid schedule, with a standard of three days/week in office; you select the days you're in, based on what's best for your work priorities. OpenLight's salary for technical roles is dependent on the skills and experience of the individual, their primary work location, and other parameters; annual salary will generally be somewhere between $130,000-$230,000. In addition to cash compensation, OpenLight offers incentive stock options (ISOs), generous insurance support, 401k matching, unlimited vacation, spot bonuses, and a positive work environment. If you are excited about solving challenging problems, advancing cutting-edge technology, and working with a highly collaborative team, we would love to hear from you.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3535,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan","Professional development","Stock options"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Hardware","Optical Communications","Optics & Photonic Components"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-26T09:11:46Z"}],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":42,"reasons":["conf:0","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-09-27T03:18:10Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":230000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/openlight-photonics-cadpdk-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/openlight-photonics-cadpdk-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-09-27T03:18:10Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3077,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":1923,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z"}}}