Find & Apply For Optical / Laser Engineer Jobs in Santa Barbara, California

Senior Photonics & High-Speed Optical Link Engineer About the Opportunity We are partnering with an innovative photonics company developing advanced integrated optical technologies for next-generation high-speed communications. The company is seeking a hands-on Senior Photonics Engineer to lead the testing, characterisation and validation of high-speed optical links built around custom photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Working across both transmitters and receivers, you will help translate early-stage designs into robust, high-performance optical links. This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys working in the lab, understands the communication theory behind optical link performance and thrives in a fast-paced engineering environment. Key Responsibilities Develop, characterise and validate high-speed optical communication links operating at 100G+ per lane. Test, debug and troubleshoot photonic integrated circuits at chip level, covering both transmitter and receiver components. Contribute to custom PIC design and feed experimental findings back into subsequent design iterations. Perform high-speed electrical and RF testing, supporting integration between photonic devices and associated electronics. Measure and analyse optical link performance, including link budgets, optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), dispersion, polarisation impairments, jitter, equalisation and crosstalk. Develop and maintain automated test setups and measurement scripts, preferably using Python. Document test procedures, results and technical findings, collaborating with design, packaging and systems engineering teams. Mentor other engineers and contribute technical leadership to cross-functional projects. Deliver against demanding development milestones while maintaining rigorous testing and data-quality standards. Essential Requirements Education Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Optics, Photonics, Physics or a related discipline. Master's degree or PhD preferred. Experience 7+ years of hands-on experience developing, characterising and validating high-speed optical communication links. Direct experience with optical links operating at 100G+ per lane. Proven PIC-level testing and troubleshooting experience, with a strong understanding of on-chip components such as lasers, modulators, photodiodes, optical amplifiers, couplers and passive optical elements. Strong understanding of photonic integrated circuits and RF communication theory, including signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), equalisation and dispersion. Laboratory & Instrumentation Skills Experience with high-speed electrical test equipment, including arbitrary waveform generators (AWGs), real-time and sampling oscilloscopes, vector network analysers (VNAs) and bit error rate (BER) testers. Experience with optical test equipment, including optical spectrum analysers (OSAs), tunable lasers, optical power meters, variable optical attenuators (VOAs) and polarisation controllers. Technical & Professional Skills Proficiency in test automation, with Python strongly preferred. Strong analytical, data interpretation, documentation and communication skills. Excellent organisation and the ability to bring structure to complex or ambiguous technical challenges. A proactive approach to problem-solving, with the ability to deliver against tight deadlines. Experience mentoring engineers and guiding cross-functional technical initiatives. Desirable Experience Familiarity with coherent optical communication links, including polarisation, phase and coherent digital signal processing (DSP). Experience with silicon photonics, indium phosphide (InP) photonics or integrated optical engines. Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy. Oliver Logan