Laser Architect

ABOUT OLIX AI is growing faster than any technology in history and the explosion in demand has created a massive infrastructure gap; we can no longer build chips or power stations fast enough to keep up. The industry is still leaning on a ten-year-old hardware blueprint that has reached its limit. A new paradigm that is faster and more efficient will be the biggest economic opportunity of the next century and create the most important company of the next decade. The OLIX Decode Accelerator 1 (DX-1) is the first accelerator architected specifically for decode. Rack-scale co-design of logic, data movement, packaging, optics and interconnect enables a step change in system level performance. THE ROLE The Laser Architect is the most senior individual-contributor role in our laser design team. You will bring deep expertise in III-V laser devices to shape the architectural direction of OLIX's laser design, working alongside a strong team of engineers on how OLIX designs, builds, and scales its devices. This is a role for a builder and a collaborator. You will run toward the most ambiguous, high-stakes device and integration problems and help the team converge on a durable direction under uncertainty. Rather than handing down decisions, you contribute your experience, judgement, and first-principles thinking that helps the team make the right architectural trade-offs across epitaxy, device architecture, packaging integration, and reliability: the trade-offs that determine system-level bandwidth, power, and density. The best argument wins here, and we expect you to make it, welcome challenges to it, and change your mind when the evidence says so. You will partner with electronics, optics, packaging, systems, and manufacturing to build a coherent multi-year laser roadmap, connect technical direction to broader business objectives, and represent OLIX externally in ways that strengthen our talent, partnerships, and positioning. RESPONSIBILITIES - Shape the architectural vision and multi-year direction for OLIX's lasers, developed with and owned alongside the team - Bring deep III-V device expertise into design decisions, helping the team establish shared design principles and best practices - Run toward the most ambiguous, high-stakes device and integration problems and help the team build clarity and a durable direction - Partner with cross-functional stakeholders across electronics, optics, packaging, systems, and manufacturing to align on a coherent long-term laser roadmap - Inform high-impact architectural trade-offs across epitaxy, device architecture, packaging interaction, and reliability that determine system-level performance - Raise the bar for design, simulation, characterisation, and reliability practice across the laser domain, through example and mentorship rather than mandate - Continuously bring cutting-edge research, competitive intelligence, and market shifts into the team's thinking - Mentor and grow Staff and Senior engineers, remaining hands-on in critical reviews and high-stakes decisions - Connect laser technical decisions to broader business objectives and capital-efficient scaling to volume - Represent OLIX externally, building industry relationships that strengthen talent, partnerships, and strategic positioning SKILLS & EXPERIENCE - 15+ years in semiconductor laser development, with deep, demonstrated expertise in III-V devices - PhD Degree in Physics, Optics, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related discipline - Experience shaping architecture and long-term technical direction for a laser or photonics domain, beyond individual devices or programmes - Deep command of III-V materials, epitaxy (MBE/MOCVD), device physics, high-speed modulation, and reliability - A collaborative working style: you influence through expertise, evidence, and clear reasoning, not title or tenure, and you engage the strongest counter-argument in the room - Proven ability to bring diverse cross-functional stakeholders t…