---
title: 'Photonics Layout Engineer (Onsite/Hybrid) at Voyant Photonics'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/photonics-layout-engineer-onsite-hybrid-voyant-photonics-new-york-h6hqmqmz17nx'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-08'
---

# Photonics Layout Engineer (Onsite/Hybrid) at Voyant Photonics

- **Company:** Voyant Photonics
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Compensation:** $120k–$190k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-20
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/voyant-photonics/7cbdba7a-bd2e-4c8d-a7e5-a6fa909b7ffd

## Job description

Photonics Layout Engineer (Onsite/Hybrid) About us: Voyant Photonics is bushing the boundaries of silicon photonic chips that steer and switch light at high speed. They power next generation, chip-scale FMCW LiDAR for robotics and autonomy, and optical circuit switches (OCS) for AI data centers. Based in NYC, we’re a hands-on team designing, building, and deploying frontier hardware to solve problems that matter, from how machines see to how AI scales. Why Join Us? At Voyant, you'll help develop some of the most sophisticated silicon photonic chips, spanning two applications: optical circuit switching for AI data centers and chip-scale LiDAR sensing. You'll tackle challenging problems in large-scale photonic integration, including dense waveguide routing, multilayer photonic layouts, and complex die- and reticle-level floorplanning. Our PICs integrate hundreds to thousands of optical components, requiring innovative layout approaches that balance optical performance, chip dimensions, and manufacturability. As a Photonic Layout Engineer, you'll take ownership of PIC layouts from initial floorplanning through tapeout. You'll have the opportunity to develop automated layout methodologies, solve complex routing challenges, and work closely with photonic designers and other engineering teams in a fast-paced startup environment. What You'll Do:

- Develop and implement layouts for complex photonic integrated circuits, from component-level test structures to large-scale system PICs.
- Translate photonic schematics and design requirements into efficient, manufacturable GDSII layouts.
- Implement dense waveguide routing, multilayer optical interconnects, and die- and reticle-level floorplanning.
- Develop and maintain parameterized photonic component cells (PCells) and reusable layout libraries.
- Create Python-based scripts and automation tools for layout generation, routing, and design verification.
- Integrate photonic and electrical layouts, including electrical routing, contact pads, and packaging interfaces.
- Perform and debug physical verification, including DRC, LVS, and optical connectivity checks.
- Collaborate with photonic designers, packaging engineers, and foundry partners to optimize layouts and support tapeout submissions.

## What We're Looking For

- B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Photonics, Physics, Optical Engineering, or a related field.
- 2+ years of experience in photonic integrated circuit layout, preferably in silicon photonics or a similar platform.
- Proficiency with photonic layout tools such as GDSFactory, IPKISS, KLayout, or equivalent.
- Strong Python scripting skills, including experience with layout automation or parameterized designs.
- Experience with photonic waveguide routing, component placement, and chip-level layout integration.
- Familiarity with silicon photonics foundry PDKs, design rules, and tapeout processes.
- Strong attention to detail, problem-solving skills, and ability to collaborate in a multidisciplinary team.

## Nice to Have

- Experience with large-scale PIC layout, optical switching networks, or complex photonic routing architectures.
- Experience with multilayer silicon/silicon nitride photonic platforms and interlayer optical transitions.
- Experience developing automated routing, placement optimization, or layout generation algorithms.
- Familiarity with Cadence Virtuoso, SKILL, or electrical layout and EDA integration.
- Experience with photonic-electronic co-layout, packaging interfaces, or commercial silicon photonics foundry tapeouts.

Life at Voyant We build frontier hardware & systems from our lab and office in Midtown Manhattan, where optical tables, lab benches and electronics sit alongside traditional office space. Our work is hands-on and primarily in person, but we don’t run on a rigid 9-to-5. We partner with customers across time zones, so some calls start early or run late, and we adjust schedules around them. We run a high-trust, high-accountability environment: you’ll own meaningful work, move quickly and often wear more than one hat. Voyant provides catered lunch every day at HQ, and we’re a diverse group of food lovers from around the world who enjoy sharing food, culture and technical ideas around the lunch table.

## Equal Opportunity Employer

Voyant Photonics is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital or partnership status, age, national origin, citizenship, veteran or military status, disability, medical condition, genetic information, caregiver status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

## About Voyant Photonics

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Voyant Photonics develops solid-state, chip-scale FMCW LiDAR sensors using silicon photonics for machine perception in autonomous vehicles, robotics, and smart infrastructure.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A)
- **Headquarters**: New York City, New York, United States
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Dr. Steven Miller (CTO), Dr. Chris Phare (CSO), Carlos Bhola (Executive Chairman)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Autonomous sensing / LiDAR / Silicon photonics
- **Target Customers**: B2B; OEMs and system integrators in automotive, robotics, industrial automation, and smart infrastructure
- **Mission**: To enable intelligent machines to operate in harmony with their environment by providing the spatial foundation that AI systems need to perceive the world.

## Products & Services
- **Helium™**: A fully solid-state, medium-range 4D LiDAR with no moving parts. Uses a 2D array of surface emitters for on-chip beam steering. Key specs: 75m range, 0.3cm precision, 60° x 90° FOV, ultra-compact 3x4x4 cm form factor. Ideal for mobile robotics.
- **Carbon 30**: A compact, all-in-one coherent LiDAR for mid-range, high-precision sensing. Combines single-axis on-chip beam steering with a low-speed moving mirror. Available in 32, 64, and 128-line variants. Range: 75m (standard) or 150m (extended), 30° V x 120° H FOV. Up to 977,000 points/sec.
- **Carbon 60**: A wide-FOV coherent LiDAR optimized for dense near-field perception (60° V x 90° H). Designed for short-range, wide-angle coverage in applications like person tracking and mobile robotics.

All products are software-configurable, operate at 1550nm (eye-safe), and provide instantaneous velocity data per point — immune to sunlight interference and other LiDAR sensors.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $41.6M across 5 rounds
- **Notable Investors**: UP Partners (led Series A), LDV Capital, Contour Venture Partners, and others
- **Growth Signals**: 150% YoY headcount growth (to ~52 employees); has hired talent from Tesla, Luminar, Aeva, Microsoft, and MIT Media Lab; new CEO Clément Nouvel (former CTO of Valeo’s LiDAR division) brought in to scale the company; presence expanding to France and Japan

## Competitive Advantages
- **True solid-state design**: Their monostatic architecture integrates FMCW LiDAR, beam steering, and coherent detection on a single silicon photonics die — no moving parts, no MEMS, no multi-chip assemblies.
- **Foundry-compatible manufacturing**: Uses datacom-grade photonic foundries for wafer-scale fabrication, enabling cost and performance scaling to millions of units — manufactured like processors, not like optics.
- **Instantaneous 4D data**: Each measurement returns both range and velocity simultaneously, with no compute overhead, reducing perception pipeline complexity.
- **Software-configurable**: Sensors can dynamically trade off range, resolution, FOV, and precision under real-time application control — one sensor for many use cases.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling production and reducing per-unit cost to enable mass-market adoption in automotive and robotics
- Expanding into smart infrastructure (bridge monitoring, power lines, industrial facilities) and IoT metrology
- Building out commercial sales team and global presence (VP Sales from Ouster/Aeva, Sales Director for Europe, presence in Japan)
- Replacing mechanical and MEMS-based LiDAR with fully solid-state solutions across all market segments

## Why Work Here
- **Cutting-edge technology**: Work on the frontier of silicon photonics, FMCW LiDAR, and coherent detection — a true hardware + perception + AI challenge
- **High-growth trajectory**: 150% headcount growth in the last year, with strong funding and commercial traction — significant career growth potential
- **Small, focused team**: ~52 employees with a high density of PhDs and experienced engineers from Cornell, Columbia, MIT, and top LiDAR companies (Luminar, Aeva, Valeo) — learn from world-class peers
- **Real-world impact**: Your work directly enables autonomous vehicles, robots, and smart infrastructure to perceive the world safely and reliably
- **Culture**: Described as "laser-focused" and balancing innovation with execution; the team includes veterans from Tesla, Microsoft, and leading Tier 1 automotive suppliers
- **Work model**: Based in NYC with a collaborative in-person culture; roles span photonics, electrical engineering, software, systems, and sales
- **Career opportunities**: Actively hiring across technical and commercial roles — "We’re growing fast and always looking for passionate, talented people"

## Sources
1. [voyantphotonics.com](https://voyantphotonics.com/)
2. [voyantphotonics.com/about](https://voyantphotonics.com/about/)
3. [voyantphotonics.com/products](https://voyantphotonics.com/products/)
4. [voyantphotonics.com/careers](https://voyantphotonics.com/careers/)
5. [linkedin.com/company/voyantphotonics](https://www.linkedin.com/company/voyantphotonics)
6. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/voyant-photonics](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/voyant-photonics)

## Other roles at Voyant Photonics

- [Senior Photonics Design Engineer - Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA) / Active Devices)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-photonics-design-engineer-semiconductor-optical-amplifier-soa-active-ftpz9xgx0rs8) — New York, NY
- [Principal PIC (Photonic Integrated Circuit) Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-pic-photonic-integrated-circuit-design-engineer-voyant-photonics-new-2wnhfg389yrp) — New York, NY
- [Principal ASIC Engineer (Mixed-Signal)](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-asic-engineer-mixed-signal-voyant-photonics-new-york-ry7vapnea5zp) — New York, NY
- [Mechanical Design Engineer, Frontier AI Hardware](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-design-engineer-frontier-ai-hardware-voyant-photonics-new-york-46mtegnzfprf) — New York, NY
- [Senior Silicon Photonics Design Engineer (Remote)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-silicon-photonics-design-engineer-remote-voyant-photonics-remote-1shz8qffvrdh)
- [Senior Silicon Photonics Design Engineer (Onsite/Hybrid)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-silicon-photonics-design-engineer-onsite-hybrid-voyant-photonics-new-york-6q4e8bswvarp) — New York, NY
- [Photonics Layout Engineer (Remote)](https://feeny.ai/job/photonics-layout-engineer-remote-voyant-photonics-remote-rgts7amh4tgd)
- [Senior Project Manager, Global Supply Chain (LiDAR & Optical Circuit Switches)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-project-manager-global-supply-chain-lidar-optical-circuit-switches-fx0qq66r9xqr) — New York, NY
- [Silicon Photonics Control & Calibration Engineer - Optical Circuit Switches (OCS)](https://feeny.ai/job/silicon-photonics-control-calibration-engineer-optical-circuit-switches-ocs-qwsypyh2e400) — New York, NY
- [Silicon Photonics Systems Test Engineer – Optical Circuit Switches (OCS)](https://feeny.ai/job/silicon-photonics-systems-test-engineer-optical-circuit-switches-ocs-voyant-57gf42rynbxv) — New York, NY