Silicon Photonics Control & Calibration Engineer - Optical Circuit Switches (OCS)

Voyant Photonics•New York, NY

4d•$120,000 - $160,000•Onsite

About The Position

Voyant Photonics is hiring a Silicon Photonics Control & Calibration Engineer to join its Systems Team and report to the System Integration Lead. The role owns how optical circuit switch (OCS) photonic devices are driven, calibrated, and stabilized, from early device characterization through validated firmware. The engineer designs control and calibration algorithms, defines drive-electronics requirements, builds test benches, and owns final validation after firmware implementation. The work involves characterizing photonic devices, prototyping and validating closed-loop control routines, translating device physics and control needs into driver specifications, validating driver hardware, and handing off algorithms to firmware with specifications, reference implementations, and test vectors. The engineer also designs and automates test setups, validates embedded implementations against Python references, collaborates with photonics, test, electronics, and firmware engineers, and produces reports to inform decisions. The role is based on-site at Voyant’s Midtown Manhattan lab and office. Work is hands-on and primarily in person, with schedules adjusted as needed to support customer calls across time zones; some calls may start early or run late. The environment is described as high-trust and high-accountability, with meaningful ownership, a fast pace, and minimal formal process. Voyant provides catered lunch every day at headquarters.

Requirements

MS in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optics, or a related field, or a BS with equivalent experience; a PhD is a plus.
At least 4 years of hands-on experience in control, calibration, or characterization of optical, photonic, or other precision physical systems; exceptional candidates at other experience levels may also be considered.
Strong fundamentals in control and estimation, including feedback design, stability, noise, and system identification from measured data.
Solid understanding of photonic device physics, particularly phase shifters and interferometric devices.
Mixed-signal electronics literacy sufficient to write and verify driver specifications and debug at the board level.
Proficiency in Python for algorithm prototyping, test automation, and data analysis.
Hands-on experience with lab equipment and demonstrated experience automating test setups.
Ability to read embedded C/C++ and debug alongside firmware engineers.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, especially for specifying algorithms and requirements for implementation.
Self-starter who thrives with minimal formal process and is comfortable defining structure where it does not yet exist.
Must be able to work on-site.

Nice To Haves

Experience calibrating or controlling silicon photonic circuits, tunable lasers, optical switches, or coherent/datacom transceivers.
Experience with multi-channel calibration at scale, including dither- or lock-in-based stabilization.
Hands-on embedded C/C++, FPGA, or real-time systems experience.
Experience with hardware-in-the-loop test frameworks.
PhD.

Responsibilities

Characterize control behavior of photonic devices, including thermo-optic phase shifters, Mach–Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), and switch elements, covering drive response, thermal crosstalk, drift, and variation.
Design calibration routines and closed-loop control algorithms, prototype them in Python, and validate them on test benches and hardware-in-the-loop setups.
Derive driver electronics requirements from device physics and control needs, including DAC/ADC resolution and noise, bandwidth, channel count, power, and inter-channel crosstalk.
Validate driver hardware against requirements and partner with electronics engineers on design tradeoffs.
Hand off algorithms to firmware as clear specifications with reference implementations and test vectors.
Own final validation of firmware-implemented control and calibration by comparing embedded behavior with the Python reference.
Design, build, and automate test setups.
Collaborate with photonics design, test, electronics, and firmware engineers.
Generate clear reports that drive decisions.