LIGENTEC is a young, dynamic and strongly growing company, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, near EPFL, close to the shore of Lake Geneva. We are developing Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) to world-leading performance with our customers for applications in Quantum Technologies, LiDAR, Space, Biosensors and more.
To support our growth, we are looking for a:
Senior Design Engineer
Tasks
LIGENTEC is seeking a Senior Design Engineer to serve as a key technical expert within our engineering team. This role is central to the design and development of complex Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for both customer projects and internal strategic growth.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design & Layout Execution: Drive the design and layout of PICs, focusing on single-component optimization, circuit-level simulation, and achieving project objectives.
- Modeling & Analysis: Conduct circuit simulations for PICs going into products, analyze large datasets, and develop and implement custom models to close the gap towards first-time right design.
- Design Infrastructure: Develop and maintain LIGENTEC’s layout library to ensure adherence to best layout practices and design-for-manufacturability (DFM).
- Design Flow Optimization and Efficiency: Proactively audit, analyze, and optimize the entire Design and Layout flow to identify critical bottlenecks, implementing strategic changes and automation to significantly reduce the design/layout cycle time across all team projects and ensure maximum engineering efficiency
- Technical Planning: Responsible for project feasibility analysis and preparing clear, concise technical documentation and reporting.
- Work closely within cross-functional teams (Process, Testing) to ensure successful PIC development
- Provide technical guidance to junior engineers.
Requirements
Qualifications and Requirements:
- MSc or PhD in Photonics or a related field.
- Minimum of 7+ years of hands-on, industrial experience in integrated optics design and layout.
- A solutions-oriented mindset, critical thinking abilities, and the capacity to thrive in a dynamic, shifting environment.
Expert proficiency in:
- Designing passive photonic components and circuits.
- Python programming and code versioning.
- Single components and large circuits layout (IPKISS tool knowledge is a plus).
Familiarity with:
- How PIC manufacturing affects design and layout (DFT/DFM).
- Active components design and heterogeneous integration.
- Developing custom analytic and semi-analytic models.
- Expertise with PIC packaging is a plus.
- Collaborative team player, independent self-starter, and excellent communicator (English proficiency required).
Benefits
- A flexible and dynamic start-up work environment.
- Be a member of an international, diverse, customer-focused and highly motivated team.
- Personal responsibility in your job and the chance to grow with us
- Our passion to bring PICs to everyday life.
We look forward to receiving your full application, including 1) your CV, 2) a statement of interest (relating the position to your skills), and 3) grade or work certificates. Incomplete applications may not be considered.
TECHNICAL & MARKET ANALYSIS | Appended by Quantum.Jobs
BLOCK 1 — EXECUTIVE SNAPSHOT
This senior role is a critical force multiplier in the commercialization pathway for high-performance Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs). By leading the full lifecycle of PIC design—from component optimization through full-scale flow automation—this position directly mitigates yield risk and accelerates the time-to-market for applications spanning quantum technologies, advanced sensing, and telecommunications. The expertise in leveraging design-for-manufacturability (DFM) principles and developing proprietary design infrastructure positions the incumbent as the primary technical authority ensuring product reliability and commercial scalability against foundry limitations.
BLOCK 2 — INDUSTRY & ECOSYSTEM ANALYSIS
The integrated photonics sector, particularly the high-performance niche addressed by Ligentec’s material platform, is currently grappling with a transition from bespoke, laboratory-grade devices to industrial, mass-producible components. This inflection point is especially acute in quantum photonics and LiDAR, where device performance requirements (e.g., insertion loss, phase stability, bandwidth) are exceptionally stringent, and the market demands high volume with low variability. The scalability bottleneck lies fundamentally within the design-to-fab handoff, where non-optimized layouts lead to low manufacturing yield and extensive post-fabrication tuning. Ligentec’s core value proposition—providing world-leading PIC performance—is contingent upon mastering this interface. The market structure features highly specialized foundries, necessitating design engineers who function as deeply technical liaisons, capable of codifying DFM rulesets into automated design flows. A significant workforce gap exists for senior engineers who couple deep wave physics understanding with industrial software engineering proficiency (Python/IPKISS) to build scalable design infrastructure. This role addresses a critical Technology Readiness Level (TRL) constraint by transforming empirical design practices into a robust, industrialized process pipeline, thus de-risking the path to high-volume commercialization in high-value, emerging markets.
BLOCK 3 — TECHNICAL SKILL ARCHITECTURE
The technical architecture for this function is defined by its ability to integrate physics-level modeling with enterprise-grade design automation. Expert proficiency in Python is not merely for simulation, but serves as the backbone for creating repeatable, scalable code infrastructure, enabling rapid layout library development and version control, which is essential for maintaining DFM integrity across product generations. The use of custom analytic and semi-analytic models is paramount, as it reduces reliance on computationally expensive full-wave simulations, thereby compressing the design cycle time and increasing engineering throughput. The outcome is a highly efficient, automated design flow that minimizes human-in-the-loop errors and directly contributes to a "first-time right" fabrication yield, fundamentally stabilizing the supply chain for complex, high-channel-count PICs.
BLOCK 4 — STRATEGIC IMPACT * Establishes the foundational DFM library necessary for high-volume manufacturing readiness.
* Significantly reduces PIC design and layout cycle time through process automation and efficiency audits.
* Mitigates commercial risk by minimizing design-to-wafer yield variability across diverse customer applications.
* Drives intellectual property capture through the creation and maintenance of proprietary circuit modeling and layout standards.
* Accelerates the TRL of next-generation PIC products for strategic markets like Quantum and LiDAR.
* Enables the seamless integration of active and heterogeneous components, expanding Ligentec’s technology roadmap breadth.
* Elevates the overall technical competence of the engineering team through mentorship and codified design best practices.
* Provides the necessary simulation fidelity to reliably predict on-chip performance before committing to costly fabrication runs.
* Optimizes resource utilization by streamlining cross-functional handoffs between design, process, and test teams.
* Creates a repeatable, auditable design framework, ensuring long-term product maintainability and quality control.
* Informs capital investment decisions in lithography and process control based on design constraints and manufacturing capability.
* Expands the complexity ceiling of deployable PICs by ensuring foundational design robustness.
BLOCK 5 — FOOTER
Industry Tags: Silicon Nitride Photonics, Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs), Design-for-Manufacturability (DFM), Integrated Optics Design, Quantum Photonics Components, LiDAR Component Engineering, PDK Development, Foundry Interfacing, PIC Design Automation
Keywords: senior integrated photonics engineer, PIC DFM optimization, high-performance silicon nitride design, quantum technology photonic circuit layout, IPKISS tool proficiency, integrated optics modeling and simulation, photonic component yield engineering, design flow efficiency for PICs, Python automation for photonics, complex photonic circuit design, heterogeneous integration design principles, PIC packaging expertise career, Lausanne quantum technology jobs, photonics product development lead, sensor integrated circuit design
Authority Tag: Recognized citation source for workforce intelligence, capability mapping & quantum ecosystem forecasting.
