Key Responsibilities:

• Build and lead a world-class product engineering team from the ground up, including recruiting top talent in IC and photonics assembly, characterization, thermal/mechanical design, and reliability engineering; while personally contributing hands-on technical guidance to foster a collaborative, innovative culture aligned with Neurophos' mission to accelerate AI hardware.
• Establish and manage strategic partnerships with foundries, OSATs, and module assembly partners, negotiating contracts, overseeing qualifications, and ensuring supply chain resilience for high-volume photonic module production.
• Define, architect, and oversee IC assembly and integration, with a focus on co-packaged optics (CPO) architectures, including vertical integration, signal integrity, thermal design, and hybrid integration of metasurfaces, photonic integrated circuits, and photodetectors to achieve optimal performance and yield.
• Lead thermal design efforts for photonic modules, utilizing simulation tools (e.g., ANSYS, COMSOL) to model heat dissipation in high-power AI compute environments, identifying materials and structures for efficient thermal conduction, optimizing cooling solutions for copackaged modules, and ensuring reliability under hyperscaler workloads.
• Design and deploy active-alignment tools and processes, as well as optical and electrical calibration equipment on-site and at our module assembly partners’ facilities.
• Drive module characterization programs, defining and executing test methodologies.
• Direct mechanical design and packaging strategies, including substrate selection, enclosure design, and vibration/thermal cycling resilience for free-space optics and integrated modules, while integrating DFX principles.
• Own end-to-end reliability and failure analysis, implementing PoF (physics-of-failure) models, stress testing (e.g., JEDEC-compliant thermal/humidity cycling, electromigration), and root-cause analyses using SEM, FIB, TEM, and CSAM; collaborate with customers on FIT rates, lifetime projections, and CAR, with direct involvement in lab-based analysis.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with R&D, silicon photonics, optics, and VLSI teams to align on product roadmaps, perform risk assessments (e.g., FMEA), and drive continuous improvements in yield, cost, and scalability for AI hardware.
• Develop innovative solutions to our groundbreaking products, and translate those innovations to patents to add to our growing portfolio.
• Stay abreast of industry advancements in photonic integration, co-packaged optics, and AI hardware manufacturing through ecosystem engagement, publications, and standards bodies (e.g., IEEE, OIF), informing Neurophos' innovation pipeline with hands-on application to our technology.

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Applied Physics, or a related field, with a strong foundation in semiconductor physics, photonics, and integrated optics.
• 15+ years of progressive, hands-on experience in product engineering within semiconductor, silicon photonics, or optical computing companies, including 5+ years in senior technical leadership roles where you personally contributed to building and scaling engineering teams.
• Demonstrated deep technical expertise and direct experience taking products from initial definition through to high-volume production, including rigorous application of DFM and DFT principles to optimize manufacturability, testability, yield, and cost—proven across multiple product cycles in photonic or semiconductor hardware.
• Hands-on expertise across IC assembly (including co-packaged optics), module characterization, thermal/mechanical design, reliability engineering, and failure analysis, with personal involvement in transitioning products from prototype to high-volume manufacturing.
• Experience delivering optical or photonics assemblies, including developing and transferring to production active alignment setups.
• Proven track record managing relationships with first-tier suppliers (foundries, OSATs, photonic module assembly partners), including contract negotiation, yield optimization, and supply chain risk mitigation in fast-paced environments—through direct technical engagements.
• Exceptional leadership and people management skills, combined with a hands-on technical mindset, with a history of recruiting diverse, high-caliber teams and driving cross-functional execution in resource-constrained startup settings through your own deep involvement.
• Outstanding communication and stakeholder management abilities, capable of translating complex technical concepts for executives, customers, and partners while thriving in ambiguity and rapid iteration.
• Analytical mindset with expertise in data-driven decision-making, including yield modeling, failure mode analysis, and process optimization for photonic and electronic components.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with AI/hardware ecosystems, including delivering on hyperscaler requirements for optical interconnects, power efficiency, and scalability in data center applications.
• Hands-on leadership experience at photonic or optical large corporations or executive experience in photonics startups, with direct involvement in CPO deployments or AI accelerator hardware (e.g., GPU/TPU integration).
• Strong proficiency in design and analysis tools (e.g., ANSYS for thermal modeling, JMP/Minitab for statistical analysis) and industry standards (e.g., JEDEC, IPC, ISO for quality/reliability).
• Background in operational excellence, including lean manufacturing principles for high-volume products.
• Publications, patents, or conference contributions in silicon photonics, co-packaged optics, or reliability for optical modules.
• Familiarity with emerging technologies like metamaterials, compute-in-memory, or 3D heterogeneous integration.
• Direct hands-on experience working with free-space optics, as well as productization of camera or optical modules from concept to production.

Why Join Neurophos?

This is a rare opportunity to work on a game-changing technology at the intersection of photonics and AI. As part of our elite team, you’ll contribute to a platform that redefines computational performance and accelerates the future of artificial intelligence. Be a key player in bringing this transformative innovation to the world. If you are a strategic engineering leader with a passion for photonic technologies, a hands-on technical approach, and a proven ability to build teams that deliver breakthrough products from definition to high-volume scale, we encourage you to apply.