{"id":3497443,"url":"https://alion.io/job/seagate-technology-photonics-optics-sr-staff-engineer","title":"Photonics & Optics Sr. Staff Engineer","company":{"id":1756651,"name":"Seagate Technology","domain":"seagate.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/seagate-com","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"SuccessFactors","truth_index":null},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"staff","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":[],"countries":[],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":147035,"max":214316,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":214316},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":12,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"ANSYS","optional":false},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-30T02:05:42Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-30","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T04:08:03Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":5,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":5},"description":"About our group:\nSeagate Research develops next-generation photonics technologies that enable future storage, sensing and physical-intelligence platforms. Our team conducts advanced research spanning photonic devices, integrated photonics, optical systems, precision sensing, optical interconnects and emerging technology concepts. We work closely with engineering, manufacturing, and external research partners to mature innovative concepts into technologies that can influence future Seagate products and platforms.\nAbout the role - you will:\nDesign, develop, optimize, and characterize photonic devices, photonic integrated circuits (PICs), and optical subsystems.\nPerform photonic modeling, simulation, layout, verification, and performance trade-off analysis.\nDevelop free-space and fiber-based optical experiments for proof-of-concept demonstrations and technology validation.\nLead laboratory activities including optical alignment, laser-based measurements, noise analysis, environmental testing, and system characterization.\nInvestigate advanced materials, novel device architectures, and emerging photonic platforms.\nCollaborate with electronics, firmware, controls, packaging, manufacturing, and reliability teams.\nDefine experiments, analyze data, communicate results, and drive technical decision-making.\nWork with foundries, suppliers, universities, and strategic partners to evaluate new technologies.\nSupport intellectual property creation through invention disclosures, patent filings, and technical publications.\nDrive technology maturation from exploratory research through prototype development and scalable implementation.\nMentor engineers and researchers while providing technical leadership across multiple programs.\nAbout you:\nPassionate about solving complex technical challenges using first-principles engineering and experimentation.\nStrong communicator capable of influencing cross-functional technical teams.\nHands-on technical leader who balances innovation with execution.\nCurious, collaborative, and comfortable operating in ambiguous research environments.\nCommitted to continuous learning and mentoring others.\nYour experience includes:\nExperience with PIC design, optical modeling, simulation, and verification.\nHands-on laboratory experience with lasers, detectors, instrumentation, optical test systems, and data analysis.\nDemonstrated ability to move technologies from concept through validated prototypes.\nExperience presenting technical results to senior leadership, peers, and external partners.\nStrong understanding of optical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical interactions within complex systems.\nBachelor’s degree in Optics, Photonics, Physics, Electrical Engineering or related discipline and 12+ years of experience or master’s degree in the same and 8+ years’ experience or PhD and 5+ years’ experience or equivalent experience and education.\nYou might also have:\nExperience with silicon photonics, silicon nitride, III-V photonics, thin-film lithium niobate, or heterogeneous integration.\nExperience using Lumerical, Ansys, COMSOL, RSoft, Zemax, MATLAB, Python, or equivalent tools.\nKnowledge of optical packaging, fiber coupling, reliability, and manufacturing considerations.\nExperience working with semiconductor foundries and photonics fabrication partners.\nExperience in sensing, optical communications, photonic computing, optical storage, or quantum-related technologies.\nRecord of patents, publications, or significant technical contributions.\nLocation:\nOur Shakopee campus is located 25 minutes southwest of Minneapolis in a setting with a rural vibe - it overlooks a horse racing track and stables, yet it has great entertainment venues close by as well. With wide-open spaces, the campus has plenty of space for running, biking, shooting some hoops or playing volleyball over lunch. If working out is your thing, the on-site fully equipped fitness center hosts wellness programs, tournaments and group workouts. Hungry? Seagate offers an on-site café with freshly sourced foods and specialty coffees, or if you prefer, drive to one of many restaurants just minutes away.\nThe estimated base salary range for this position is $147,035.00 - $214,316.00. The individual salary is based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.\nSeagate offers comprehensive benefits to its eligible employees, including, but not limited to, , eligibility to participate in discretionary bonus program, medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, short-and long-term disability, 401(k), employee stock purchase plan, health savings account, dependent care, and healthcare spending accounts. Seagate also offers paid time off, including 12 holidays, flexible time off provided pursuant to Seagate policy, a minimum of 48 hours of paid sick leave, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave. The benefits for this position are based on a full-time schedule for a full calendar year and may differ depending on work location.\nLocation: Shakopee, United States\nTravel: Up to 10%","description_format":"text","description_chars":5084,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":12,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":true},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Continuous learning","Flexible time off","Life insurance","Parental leave","Wellness"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Optical Communications"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-30T02:05:42Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":81,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":5,"expected_fill_days":13,"reasons":["conf:2","velocity","win:mid","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":214316,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/seagate-technology-photonics-optics-sr-staff-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/seagate-technology-photonics-optics-sr-staff-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-04T09:15:48Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":14427,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-05T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1756651},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1756651"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fseagate-technology-photonics-optics-sr-staff-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fseagate-technology-photonics-optics-sr-staff-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fseagate-technology-photonics-optics-sr-staff-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/seagate-technology-photonics-optics-sr-staff-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fseagate-technology-photonics-optics-sr-staff-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3497443}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"seagate.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3497443},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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