Photonics Software Engineer (Senior or Mid-level)

Overview
Application

About EMode

EMode develops simulation software for integrated photonics. The company was founded in Boulder in 2021 around an eigenmode solver with a Python scripting interface. Since then the product has grown into a three-dimensional eigenmode expansion package that research groups and companies use to design waveguides, resonators, couplers, arrayed waveguide gratings, and nonlinear and quantum photonic devices.

Our current development is aimed closing the gap between a photonic device simulation/design and the device experimental performance after fabrication. We want designers to optimize against the performance they will actually receive, including realistic geometry, scattering loss, thermal and electrical effects, and nonlinear response, from a single component up through a full circuit. Doing this at practical speed requires methods that are orders of magnitude more efficient than the conventional ones, so that a designer can sweep parameters, run optimizations, and carry fabrication tolerances through the analysis.

Working at EMode

We are a small team, growing to meet demand from academia, industry, and enterprise photonics development. The people who join in this round will have a direct hand in how the company and the product develop.

You will have close feedback from users, helping guide our product development to create real value and impact in our customers' workflows.
Releases go out every few weeks, so your work is quickly in users' hands.
We work on site in Boulder, Colorado. The team is collaborative with decisions about the roadmap, the architecture, and hiring.
Much of the work begins with new derivations: nonlinear electromagnetics, mode theory, semiconductor device physics, and numerical linear algebra. We support publishing results when appropriate.
Every position includes stock options, sized to reflect joining at an early stage.
As an early employee you will have more responsibility than the same title would carry at a larger company, and you will help establish the practices of our growing team.

The Role

You will develop the numerical core of EMode together with our lead software engineer. The work is to take electromagnetic and nonlinear-optical formulations and turn them into robust software that customers run every day: deriving and checking the physics, optimizing the linear algebra, and making the implementation fast, well-tested, and maintainable within a shared codebase.

We are posting this position at two levels, and the level of the hire will depend on the candidates we meet. The responsibilities are the same at both levels. The difference is how much of the work you take on independently from the start, and how closely you work with the lead software engineer and the founder while you learn the codebase.

What You Will Do

Implement and extend eigenmode expansion, mode solving, and nonlinear propagation methods
Derive new numerical methods and validate them against analytical limits, published measurements, and existing methods
Improve the solver performance through profiling, vectorization, sparse and dense linear algebra, and attention to convergence
Design new physics features from the backend to the user-facing API
Extend the validation suite with regression tests, analytical benchmarks, and convergence studies
Reproduce and diagnose modeling discrepancies reported by users, and correct them
Write documentation, examples, and tutorial models for the features you ship

What Success Looks Like in the First Year

Multiple physics features you derived, implemented, and validated are in a public release
The validation suite that you updated catches regressions before users do
You have taken a modeling insufficiency from a user’s first report through to a fix or a documented workaround
At the senior level, the team is following new implementation patterns you established

The Two Levels

Senior Photonics Software Engineer. You have developed photonics or computational electromagnetics software as part of a team, and you can carry a feature from derivation to release with little supervision. You will own large parts of the solver, review code, establish implementation patterns for others, and take on the more involved modeling questions that come in from users.
Base salary: $150,000 – $190,000

Photonics Software Engineer. You have the physics background and you can program, but you have not yet done much production software work, or you have software experience and your optics comes mainly from coursework and research. You will begin with well-specified features and the validation suite, learn the codebase from the lead software engineer, and take on larger pieces of work as you are ready for them.
Base salary: $110,000 – $140,000

What We Are Looking for

At both levels:

M.S. or Ph.D. in physics, electrical engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
A sound grounding in electromagnetics and waveguide optics: Maxwell’s equations, guided modes, dispersion, and coupling
Applied linear algebra: eigenvalue problems, matrix decompositions, conditioning, and iterative solvers
Fluent in Python, and experience with version control and testing

For the senior level, additionally:

Experience developing photonics or computational electromagnetics software beyond scripts and prototypes
Professional experience in a shared codebase with other engineers, including code review, testing, and release discipline
Experience with photonics R&D or commercialization with design, fabrication, and experimental testing

Also valuable at either level: nonlinear optics, waveguide theory, or RF simulation experience. Prior implementation of EME, FDTD, FEM, BPM, or coupled-mode methods. Experience with commercial or open-source photonics simulation tools. gdsfactory or other GDS layout tooling. CI/CD, packaging, and cross-platform builds.

Compensation and Benefits

Base salary by level as listed above
Stock options
Health, dental, and vision insurance
Paid time off, paid sick leave, and Colorado FAMLI paid family and medical leave
Conference travel, and support for publishing results when merited

How to Apply

Apply on the Application tab of this posting. Include your CV and a short cover letter that answers one question: what do you want to work on, or get better at, over the next year or two? Links to publications, code, or other work are welcome.

Applications for this position close on November 20, 2026.

Location and Eligibility

All positions are on site in Boulder, Colorado. Relocation assistance is available.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Some of our work is supported by federal contracts and may be subject to U.S. export control regulations, so certain positions may require eligibility to access controlled technical data.

EMode, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.

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