Optical Communications Engineer

Bright Silicon Technologies•Pleasanton, CA

1d•$150,000 - $220,000•Onsite

About The Position

Bright Silicon Technologies is seeking an Optical Communications Engineer to lead the architecture, programming, and implementation of our modems and digital signal processing pipelines. In this role, you will bridge our revolutionary Lightfield Directing Array (LDA) front-end optics with ruggedized back-end electronics, driving the data transport layers for our next-generation Free-Space Optical (FSO) flight terminals and space-to-ground mesh networks.

Requirements

Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
Hands-on experience with fiber-coupled optical modem programming, high-speed digital signal processing (DSP), and FPGA/ASIC implementation for communication systems.
Deep theoretical understanding and practical implementation experience with optical error correction codes (e.g., LDPC, Reed-Solomon, soft-decision FEC).
Proven experience designing or integrating optical transceivers, opto-electronic components, and telecom C-band fiber optic hardware layouts.
Working knowledge of SDA optical standards and defense communication architectures.
U.S. Person status (U.S. Citizen, lawful permanent resident/green card holder, or protected individual) is required due to working with Government sensitive information (CUI and ITAR).

Nice To Haves

Experience with airborne or space-based laser communications (OISL/FSO) architectures.
Background collaborating with research institutions or national labs.
Proficiency in C++, Python, or VHDL/Verilog for hardware-software co-design and automated test benches.

Responsibilities

Architect, develop, and optimize high-speed firmware and software for fiber-coupled modems, ensuring robust link establishment and low-latency data throughput under dynamic conditions.
Design and deploy advanced forward error correction (FEC) algorithms tailored for atmospheric turbulence and high-loss optical channels, maximizing link margin and bit error rate (BER) performance.
Drive the implementation and integration of optical transceivers, leveraging telecom C-band hardware layouts and fiber-optic sub-assemblies to seamlessly link back-end electronics with front-end optical apertures.
Ensure back-end waveform and framing architectures align with Space Development Agency (SDA) standards and multi-waveform defense interoperability requirements.
Collaborate across multidisciplinary teams to test, debug, and validate end-to-end optical communication links from laboratory benches to live airborne flight demonstrations.