Mid/Senior PIC Designer
Description
Photonic IC Design Team Lead
Location: Berlin, Germany (Fully Remote is possible)
Type: Full-time
Experience: 5+ years in PIC design, including team leadership
Lead the Design of Next-Gen Optical Chips
This role puts you at the forefront of integrated photonics for high-speed datacom. You’ll lead a team deg custom PIC architectures for ultra-fast optical transceivers (200 Gb/s and 400 Gb/s), guiding designs from spec definition all the way through to volume production.
You’ll work cross-functionally with electronics, systems, and layout teams
- translating customer requirements into robust photonic solutions. If you’re ready to steer cutting-edge chip design at product scale, this one’s for you.
What you’ll be doing
- Leading a photonic IC design team through complete project cycles
- from concept to production
- Converting application needs into chip-level specifications and PIC architectures
- Driving simulation, layout, and characterization workflows with internal and external partners
- Overseeing design reviews, performance verification, and quality gates
- Collaborating with RF, EIC, and system teams to optimise co-design at the channel level
- Defining and evolving the team’s tools, methodologies, and design environments
What you’ll bring
- PhD (or equivalent experience) in electrical engineering, physics, or similar
- Deep hands-on expertise in photonic chip design from spec to tape-out
- Solid grasp of PIC design for manufacturability, quality, and high-yield production
- Skilled in optical simulation tools (FDTD, Eigenmode, TCAD), EDA tools (e.g. HFSS, Lumerical), and scripting languages
- Experience in RF design and photonic/electronic co-integration is a plus
- Strong leadership, planning, and communication skills
- Fluent in English; German is a bonus
What’s in it for you
- Lead photonic IC projects that are shaping the next generation of global connectivity
- Collaborate with an ambitious, international team in a high-growth environment
- Enjoy a flat structure, high ownership, and plenty of career progression opportunities
- Flexible hours, a well-equipped workspace, and a few creature comforts (drinks, fruit, chill-out spaces)
- Be based in Berlin’s high-tech scene with global impact
Sound like a fit?
Send us your CV and a few lines on why you’d enjoy leading this kind of work. Let’s talk.
Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.
Jack Kindell