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Principal Engineer Photonics Jobs (NOW HIRING)

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How much do principal engineer photonics jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 15, 2026, the average yearly pay for principal engineer photonics in the United States is $147,220.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $118,500.00 and $173,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

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Infographic showing various Principal Engineer Photonics job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 96% Full Time, 1% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $147,220 per year, or $70.8 per hour.

Principal Hardware Systems Technical Lead

Mountain View, CA โ€ข On-site

Full-time

Posted 5 days ago


Job description

We are looking for a talented Principal Engineer to provide technical leadership to the Hardware Systems organization to help us build the next generation of silicon photonics based artificial intelligence accelerators and interconnect products. As a Principal Hardware Systems Technical Lead, you will be responsible for delivering board and system solutions using Lightmatter's innovative technology to create state of the art machine learning/artificial intelligence or massive scale-out interconnect platforms. You will work closely with our hardware and software teams, including mechanical, packaging, and IC engineering, to design and build leading edge system level products.

Responsibilities

  • Technical leadership and mentorship of team members to drive excellence and elevate the teams collective output
  • Own and drive multiple complex projects and hardware systems development throughout the full lifecycle, from concept through production
  • Collaborate with system architects and technical leads to define and develop hardware systems for photonic AI infrastructure applications
  • Define, develop, and review PCBAs to meet system-level electrical, power, and interface requirements
  • Lead hands-on integration, verification, and validation across bench bring-up, EVT/DVT, and production release
  • Drive cross-functional collaboration with firmware, photonics, packaging, and software teams to resolve dependencies and manage tradeoffs
  • Maintain thorough hardware documentation for schematics, design reviews, test plans, validation reports, and other engineering documentation
  • Research components and technologies to meet current and next-generation product goals and contribute to the technology roadmap, and improve development processes and engineering best practices
  • Mentor and provide technical guidance to engineers on the team

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline with 15+ years of relevant industry experience
  • Demonstrated track record of taking multiple complex hardware systems from concept through production
  • Deep knowledge of VRMs, high-speed SerDes, and interfaces/protocols including PCIe, Ethernet, SPI/QSPI, I3C, I2C, and JTAG
  • Experience leading multi-disciplinary development, integration, and troubleshooting across electrical, mechanical, and firmware domains
  • Strong ownership mindset with the ability to work in ambiguous and dynamic environments

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience designing hardware systems for AI/HPC data center infrastructure, optical transceivers, or silicon photonics products
  • Experience with Systems Engineering methodology, including requirements definition and traceability, FMEA, and EVT/DVT/PVT planning and execution
  • Familiarity with advanced packaging technologies and high-density PCB design