Integrated Photonics Technical Leader - Acacia (Hybrid)

This is a hybrid role with three days per week at our Holmdel, NJ office.

Meet the Team

Acacia, part of Cisco, is a market leader in high-speed coherent optical transceivers and a pioneer in coherent pluggable technology. Acacia’s coherent products are deployed by leading hyperscale cloud providers to connect data centers over distances ranging from a few kilometers to thousands of kilometers, including subsea networks.

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence infrastructure is substantially increasing demand for high-capacity optical interconnects. Acacia’s coherent technology is also being developed for space-based applications and, as interconnect speeds continue to increase, for emerging applications within data centers. In parallel, Acacia is expanding into the PAM4 client-optics market, including the development of 1.6 Tb/s PAM4 DSP solutions.

The Photonic Integrated Circuit, or PIC, team develops advanced photonic chips for optical communication products. The team works across silicon photonics, thin-film lithium niobate, or TFLN, and III–V material platforms, taking products from initial concepts through design, fabrication, characterization, qualification, and volume production.

Your Impact

As a member of the PIC team, you will design, simulate, lay out, and characterize integrated photonic components and circuits for high-speed optical communication systems.

You will collaborate closely with engineers working in silicon photonics, TFLN, and III–V technologies. Your responsibilities will span numerical modeling, foundry process development, production tapeouts, PIC characterization, failure analysis, design improvement, and production support.

This role provides exposure to the complete commercial PIC development cycle—from device concepts and first prototypes to product qualification and high-volume manufacturing. You will also collaborate with millimeter-wave circuit designers, packaging engineers, module hardware and software teams, and optical test engineers to develop complete optical communication products.

• Design passive and active integrated photonic components and circuits, including high-speed optoelectronic devices.

• Develop and validate numerical models using electromagnetic, optical, electrical, thermal, and multiphysics simulation methods.

• Create parameterized and script-based GDS layouts for photonic components, integrated circuits, and full product chips.

• Support photonic design reviews, foundry process development, mask preparation, design-rule verification, and production tapeouts.

• Plan and perform hands-on characterization of photonic components and circuits at the die, wafer, and assembled-device levels.

• Analyze measurement data and correlate experimental results with device models, process variations, packaging effects, and system-level performance.

• Work with cross-functional teams to transition PIC designs from prototype development into qualified commercial products.

• Provide technical support during product integration, qualification, manufacturing ramp, and volume production.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors + 8 years of related experience, or Masters + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related work experience, or equivalent related work experience.

• Experience in solid-state physics, integrated photonics, optoelectronics, and electromagnetic theory.

• Experience with the principles and practical application of numerical methods for photonic-device simulation.

• Experience using simulation tools such as FDTD, HFSS, COMSOL Multiphysics, or equivalent electromagnetic and multiphysics platforms.

• Experience with photonic-device fabrication processes and the relationship between fabrication tolerances and device performance.

• Experience with photonic-device layout, GDS generation, design-rule compliance, and tapeout.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD with at least 5 years of relevant industry or applied research experience.

• Experience executing large-scale photonic integrated circuit tapeouts through commercial foundries.

• Experience designing and testing PICs for optical transceivers or high-speed optical interconnect systems.

• Experience designing, simulating, and characterizing high-speed optical modulators, photodetectors, or related optoelectronic devices.

• Experience with high-speed electronic-photonic co-design, including the interaction among device bandwidth, impedance, parasitics, packaging, and signal integrity.

• Experience integrating multiple material platforms, including silicon photonics, TFLN, III–V semiconductors, or other hybrid photonic technologies.

• Hands-on experience with optical component characterization, including wafer-level and die-level testing.

• Experience analyzing device yield, process variation, reliability, and manufacturing-test data.

• Experience with scripting or programming languages used for simulation automation, layout generation, test automation, and data analysis.

Why Cisco? 

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. 

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you. 

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $171,600.00 to $245,000.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks.  Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

• 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees

• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next

• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

$171,600.00 - $281,800.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$151,300.00 - $250,900.00

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.