PIC Design Engineer (Visible Photonics)

Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK (On-site)

Role Type: Full-time, Permanent

Level: Principal / Lead

About the Company

Cnuic Technologies is a deep-tech company based in Edinburgh. We are building next-generation optical systems aimed at pushing the limits of precision manufacturing and nanoscale engineering. We are backed by substantial venture capital and have received grant support from several UK innovation agencies. We are a small, focused team working on genuinely difficult hardware problems. The work is fast-paced and collaborative, and we give engineers the space and resources to do serious technical work. If you want to build something from the ground up and care deeply about getting the physics right, this is a good place to be.

About the Role

This is a principal-level engineering role focused on the design and fabrication of photonic integrated circuits for visible light. You will take waveguide devices from first-principles simulation through to processed, measured chips. You will design the passive waveguide circuit, from waveguides, couplers and resonators to subwavelength structures, and define its optical interfaces to active components such as lasers and photodetectors that are brought onto the chip through heterogeneous integration. You will also be hands-on in the cleanroom, running the thin-film deposition, e-beam lithography, ICP-RIE and evaporation steps behind your designs, and feeding fabrication results into the next iteration. This is a lead role, so you will also help set technical direction for the photonics team and work closely with colleagues across simulation, hardware, and systems engineering.

About You

• Comfortable taking ownership of an open-ended technical problem without a fully detailed brief.
• Able to communicate complex photonics and process trade-offs clearly to engineers from other disciplines and to leadership.
• Comfortable defending technical decisions in design review, and responding to critical feedback with evidence rather than assertion.
• Comfortable in an environment where priorities shift as experimental and fabrication results come in.

Key Requirements

Photonic Design & Simulation

• Hands-on experience designing waveguide circuits for visible wavelengths, from individual components to full circuit layouts. NIR experience is a plus alongside this.
• Strong expertise in FDTD (e.g. Lumerical), together with eigenmode and propagation solvers, and rigorous simulation practice: convergence testing and correct boundary conditions.
• Experience designing with subwavelength effects, such as subwavelength gratings, grating couplers and tapers.

Passive & Active Components

• Proven design of passive components: waveguides, bends, directional couplers, MMIs, MZIs, ring resonators and fibre-to-chip couplers.
• Understanding of active components (lasers, modulators, photodetectors) and their heterogeneous integration with passive waveguide circuits, including mode matching and alignment at the interface.

Process & Fabrication

• Hands-on cleanroom experience with e-beam lithography, ICP-RIE and e-beam/thermal evaporation, applied to waveguide fabrication.
• Ability to relate process variation (linewidth, sidewall angle and roughness, film thickness) to device performance and build it into design tolerances.

Thin-Film Deposition

• Hands-on experience depositing optical thin films (e.g. PECVD, LPCVD or sputtering) and controlling thickness, refractive index, stress and optical loss.
• Experience characterising films with ellipsometry and feeding measured optical constants back into simulation.

Characterisation & Scripting

• Experience measuring waveguide devices at visible wavelengths, including propagation loss, coupling efficiency and resonator performance, and inspecting devices with SEM/AFM.
• Proficiency in Python for simulation automation, parameter sweeps and data analysis. Experience with layout tools (KLayout, GDSFactory or IPKISS) is a strong plus.

Benefits & Compensation

We offer a competitive salary appropriate to a principal-level role. In addition:

• Equity: A meaningful allocation from our option pool, reflecting the foundational nature of this hire.
• Life insurance: Standard comprehensive coverage.
• Office: A well-equipped, modern workspace in West Edinburgh, designed for both focused individual work and team collaboration, with dedicated areas to step away and recharge.