Photonic Component Modelling Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 9, 2026. First seen by Alion on Nov 3, 2026.
About Us
Salience Labs is building an industry-defining approach to optical circuit switching for AI infrastructure, engineered for real latency reduction and cost savings. We’re moving towards real-world deployment, and joining at this stage means genuine ownership over that next chapter, working alongside a highly technical team on one of the most consequential problems in AI infrastructure today.
About the Role
We’re looking for a Photonic Component Modelling Engineer to build and qualify behavioral and compact models that accurately capture the underlying device physics. Your models will be the foundation for system-level verification of systems that combine photonic and electronic components.
You’ll need to understand how a component’s behavior shifts with its surrounding optical and electrical circuitry and with operating conditions.
What You’ll Do
Working closely with the system verification, photonic design, and photonic characterization teams, you will:
Develop and maintain models of optical primitives (modulators, switches, photodetectors, couplers, etc.) for simulation and system verification environments
Verify that models accurately represent device physics across process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) corners
Release models that pass defined QA criteria
Verify PDK component libraries so that PDK updates and process variations don’t break circuit-level simulations
Extract model parameters from lab measurements and work with characterization to correlate simulation with measurement
Build and maintain automated tooling (Python and/or MATLAB) for parameter extraction, model fitting, and regression tracking
Maintain regression suites so model and PDK changes are checked against reference data before release
Resolve model discrepancies found at system level and feed model-based design risks back to photonic design
Keep reproducible records: version-controlled models, scripts, reference data, and QA results
What You Bring
Required
MS/PhD (or equivalent experience) in photonics, electrical engineering, applied physics, or a related field
3+ years of experience in photonic component design and/or simulation
Solid understanding of integrated photonic building blocks, both passive and active, and their electrical drive requirements
Strong scripting ability (Python and/or MATLAB) for model fitting, data analysis, and simulation/measurement correlation
Comfortable working in Linux and with version-controlled repositories
Strong documentation habits, including model specifications, QA reports, and traceability from reference data to released models
Clear communication and a collaborative approach across disciplines
Nice to have
Experience modelling signal propagation in photonic integrated circuits
Hands-on experience with silicon photonics platforms
Experience with optical/photonic simulation tools (e.g., FDTD, mode solvers, circuit-level simulators)
Familiarity with foundry PDK-based photonic design flows
Tcl scripting