Senior Firmware Development & Test Automation Engineer, Lightmatter
$178-225k
+ Equity
Light-powered AI computing
Open for applications
Light-powered AI computing
201-500 employees
Open for applications
$178-225k
+ Equity
201-500 employees
Company mission
To build an engine that will power discoveries, drive progress, and redefine what computers and human beings are capable of.
Role
Who you are
- BS and 8+ years of experience, or MS and 6+ years of experience
- Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical field
- Industry experience with device driver and kernel side development
- Strong understanding of hardware-software integration
- Practical knowledge of communication and control in embedded systems, peripherals, and buses
- Experience with developing commercial/enterprise-level software and firmware on Linux
- Experience with Git and CMake for building and managing software projects
- Hands-on experience designing, simulating, or deploying control of autonomous systems
Desirable
- Proficiency with Python or C++
- Familiarity with debugging tools such as GDB, JTAG, and logic analyzers
- Experience developing firmware for photonic transceivers or similar systems
- Experience with environments such as CMIS, OpenBMC and DMTF
- Experience with optical communication systems and technologies
What the job involves
- We are hiring a talented software engineer to help us build the next generation of photonic AI processors and interconnects
- In this role, you will be responsible for developing and extending the device software and firmware stack for Photonic Compute and Photonic interconnect products. You will collaborate with other software teams and hardware systems teams to develop security, telemetry, virtualization, and remote administration functionality
- Collaborate across a multidisciplinary team including Photonic, Analog, Digital, Systems and Network experts to define control plane architecture for Lightmatter's photonic interconnect products
- Define diagnostics and monitoring architecture for photonic transceivers
- Integrate with DataCenter administration capabilities using environments such as CMIS, OpenBMC and DMTF
- Debug and troubleshoot embedded systems using tools such as GDB, JTAG, and logic analyzers
- Participate in customer engagements to gather requirements and usability criteria
Our take
Neural networks and CPUs are vital to AI solutions, but manufacturers have largely failed to maintain innovation in recent years. Lightmatter solves this problem by offering a next-generation computing platform powered by photonics (light waves).
Lightmatter offers a forward-facing platform for AI-building that acts as an alternative to traditional solutions. It works by replacing wired CPUs with a combination of photonics and new algorithms. Lightmatter's solution is not only faster, but it is considerably more sustainable, and it has the potential to drive the next generation of AI development.
As of early 2026, Lightmatter had raised $850 million across six funding rounds and grown to a staggering valuation of $4.4 billion. This showcases the growing demand for faster, more effective AI-building solutions. With products already on the market and a roadmap to tackle even more components in the years ahead, the future for Lightmatter certainly looks bright.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Oct 2024
$400m
SERIES D
Dec 2023
$155m
SERIES C
Total funding: $822m
Company benefits
- Commuter benefit
- Happy hour -Spend time together and build friendships
- Generous vacation policy and holidays
- 401(K)
- Opportunity to learn from your peers and teach them what you know across electronics, photonics, machine learning, and more
Company HQ
Old Mountain View, Mountain View, CA
Leadership
Nicholas Harris
(CEO & Co-Founder)Previously worked as an R&D Product Engineer at Micron Technology, and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT.
Thomas Graham
(Head of ML & Co-Founder)Was an M&A Analyst at Morgan Stanley, and worked as an Agency Business Development Manager at Google.
Darius Bunandar
(Chief Scientist & Co-Founder)Worked as a Research Collaborator at Caltech, and was a PhD Candidate at MIT.
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