Scalrr × Opticore / Candidate briefing
AI compute.
Built with light.
Proven in the lab.
Test Engineer · Photonic Integrated Circuits
Turn precision measurements into better hardware. Build the test systems behind a new approach to AI computing.
01 / The company
A different path for AI compute.
Opticore develops photonic chips for AI inference, using light-based computation to pursue faster, more energy-efficient processing.
Compute through light
Opticore’s approach moves matrix operations into the optical domain. Its work brings together photonic devices, chip architecture and the demands of AI workloads.
Backed by technology investors
Opticore lists Origin Ventures, Integrated Capital, Neotribe Ventures and Jetha Global among its backers.
Your connection to the mission
Reliable characterization connects a fabricated chip to its design intent. This role produces the measurements, automation and analysis that help the team understand what works—and what needs to change.
02 / The technology
From photonic devices to AI hardware.
Your work sits where optical physics, measurement and integrated-circuit engineering meet.
Photonic integrated circuits
The role spans PICs and individual devices: waveguides, grating couplers, modulators, photodetectors, resonators, switches, and active and passive elements.
Optical + electrical behavior
Characterize loss, coupling efficiency, bandwidth, extinction ratio, responsivity and insertion loss. Connect those measurements to device physics and design targets.
Wafer + packaged testing
Build and improve test setups across wafer-level and packaged-device characterization. Make measurements repeatable as experimentation and production scale.
The engineering connection
Work with PIC designers, fabrication, packaging, electrical and systems teams. Compare measurements with simulations, investigate discrepancies and turn experimental results into the next design iteration.
03 / The role
Test Engineer
Characterize photonic hardware. Automate the measurements. Help the next design get better.
Conduct characterization, test automation and validation of photonic integrated circuits and individual photonic devices. Combine optical measurement, high-precision alignment, data analysis and cross-functional hardware design feedback.
What you’ll do
- Develop and execute test and characterization plans for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and individual photonic devices
- Perform optical and electrical measurements of fabricated PICs and components, including waveguides, grating couplers, modulators, photodetectors, resonators, switches, and active/passive elements
- Build and improve automated test setups for wafer-level and packaged-device characterization
- Develop Python-based measurement, data acquisition, analysis, and visualization workflows
- Perform fiber-to-chip coupling, optical alignment, probing, and other hands-on photonic measurements
- Analyze device performance metrics including optical loss, coupling efficiency, bandwidth, extinction ratio, responsivity, and insertion loss
- Work closely with PIC designers to compare measured performance against simulations and design targets
- Support debugging, root-cause analysis, and design iterations based on experimental results
- Collaborate with fabrication, packaging, electrical, and systems teams to improve device and test performance
- Help establish repeatable characterization methodologies and test infrastructure as technology moves toward higher-volume experimentation and production
Minimum requirements
- Hands-on experience testing and characterizing photonic integrated circuits or integrated optical devices
- Strong understanding of silicon photonics, silicon nitride photonics, or related integrated photonics platforms
- Hands-on experience with optical test equipment such as tunable lasers, optical power meters, OSAs, VNAs, photodetectors, and optical/electrical probes
- Experience with fiber-to-chip coupling, optical alignment, wafer probing, or packaged photonic devices
- Strong Python skills for test automation, data acquisition, analysis, and visualization
- Experience interpreting experimental data and connecting measured device behavior to underlying photonic designs and physics
- Familiarity with PIC fabrication, layouts, tapeouts, PDKs, or device simulation
- Ability to work hands-on in a laboratory environment and troubleshoot complex optical/electrical test setups
Even better if you have
- Experience with thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) or silicon nitride (SiN) PICs
- Experience with wafer-level automated testing or high-throughput photonic characterization
- Experience characterizing high-speed electro-optic devices
- Experience with Lumerical, COMSOL, or other photonic simulation tools
- Experience designing PIC test structures, contributing to PIC layouts, or taking devices through full design-to-characterization iterations
04 / Inside the lab
Measure. Understand. Improve.
A practical mix of precision bench work, software automation and device-level problem solving.
01 / Set up the experiment
Develop characterization plans. Align fibers to chips, probe devices and troubleshoot optical and electrical setups.
02 / Automate acquisition
Write Python workflows for measurement control, data acquisition, analysis and visualization. Improve repeatability and testing throughput.
03 / Interpret the result
Evaluate device metrics and compare measured behavior with simulations and design targets. Separate setup issues from device performance.
04 / Close the design loop
Support root-cause analysis with designers and partner teams. Feed findings into design iterations and scalable characterization methods.
Tools and platforms
- Tunable lasers, optical power meters, optical spectrum analyzers (OSAs), vector network analyzers (VNAs), photodetectors, and optical/electrical probes.
- Silicon photonics, silicon nitride or related integrated photonics platforms.
- Python for test automation, data analysis and visualization.
- Helpful additional experience: TFLN, high-speed electro-optic devices, automated wafer testing, Lumerical and COMSOL.
05 / The people
Researchers building real hardware.
Opticore’s founding team brings experience in photonic computing, integrated optics and chip architecture.
Zaijun Chen
Founder & CEO
EECS Professor at UC Berkeley; formerly a postdoctoral researcher at MIT.
LinkedIn ↗Ryan Hamerly
Co-Founder & CTO
Research Scientist at MIT and former Senior Scientist at NTT PHI Lab. Developed theory and analysis for Opticore’s computing architecture.
LinkedIn ↗Mengjie Yu
Co-Founder
EECS Professor at UC Berkeley and former postdoctoral researcher at Harvard.
LinkedIn ↗Your day-to-day collaborators
Partner with PIC designers and the fabrication, packaging, electrical and systems teams. The role connects measured device behavior with the decisions that shape the hardware.
06 / Next steps
Explore the opportunity with Scalrr.
Start with your experience, your interests and the kind of hardware challenges you want to work on next.
Discuss the fit
Talk with your Scalrr recruiter about your photonics characterization experience, lab work and Python automation.
Get the practical details
Your recruiter can confirm the work location, reporting line, compensation, benefits and interview process.
Share your experience
Useful topics for an initial conversation include test setups you have built, measurement challenges you have solved and ways your analysis influenced a device design.
Keep the conversation with Scalrr
We are coordinating this search. Contact your Scalrr recruiter to discuss the role and next steps.
Connect with Scalrr ↗07 / Explore more
Get closer to the technology.
Company background and technical context to explore before your conversations.