Principal Hardware Systems Technical Lead

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