Staff Systems Engineer, Signal-Path Performance & Modeling

Responsibilities

• In this role, you will build and maintain the link and power budgets; quantify impairments and non-idealities across the optical, analog, and digital domains; develop mathematical and behavioral models; define the hardware and algorithmic techniques required to meet aggressive system-level performance targets; and determine how accuracy, throughput, and power trade against one another as the architecture evolves.
• You will spend the bulk of your time running system-level simulations, translating them into defensible allocations that the rest of the organization can design against. If you have deep communication-theory and signal-processing intuition, are fluent turning a signal chain into a quantitative model, and want to be the person who can answer "where does the system actually lose its margin," this role will let you define the performance envelope of a first-of-its-kind computing platform.
• Own and maintain the end-to-end optical and electrical link/power budget for the OVMM signal path, keeping it synchronized with the as-designed and as-measured hardware as the architecture evolves.
• Build and maintain the reference behavioral model of the full TX-channel-RX signal path, capturing optical, analog, quantization, and algorithmic effects with the fidelity needed for architecture trades and requirements allocation.
• Allocate NMSE/SNR/SNDR targets across optics, analog, quantization, and algorithmic domains, and update those allocations as component and architecture choices change.
• Characterize and model optical, analog, and digital impairments, including noise, distortion, jitter, quantization effects, crosstalk, mismatch, and nonlinearity, and quantify their impact on system-level accuracy.
• Analyze the impact of channel count, TX/RX configuration, and architectural changes on TOPS, TOPS/W, and latency, and determine whether a proposed architectural change is worth its additional power or complexity.
• Develop and run statistical (Monte Carlo, corner) and time-domain simulations to quantify design margin and manufacturing robustness.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional experience in communication systems architecture, link-budget/signal-chain modeling, or performance modeling of optical or high-speed electrical communication systems.

Preferred

• Experience with optical communication links, coherent or direct-detection architectures, or high-speed SerDes/networking standards (Ethernet, PCIe, OIF-CEI).
• System-level modeling of high-speed data converters (ADC/DAC), including quantization, sampling, and multi-device synchronization effects.
• Familiarity with Cadence Virtuoso and Spectre sufficient to validate behavioral models against circuit-level simulation.
• Hands-on laboratory characterization or silicon/system bring-up experience.
• Familiarity with photonic integrated circuits, silicon photonics, or optical transceiver systems.

Location

Austin, TX. Full-time onsite position.

Reports To

Chief Systems Engineer

FLSA Status

Exempt

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled Systems Engineer to own the quantitative, end-to-end performance model of our optical vector-matrix multiplication (OVMM) engine. This role is the technical center of Systems Engineering's performance-modeling focus area: you will lead the end-to-end modeling, analysis, and architectural definition of high-speed communication and signal-processing systems.

Model-to-Measurement Correlation

Correlate model predictions with laboratory and silicon measurements; when measured performance does not match simulation, isolate the source of the discrepancy and refine the model and allocations accordingly.

Secondary Responsibilities

• Supply architecture and requirements trade studies (led by the Architecture & Requirements focus area) with quantitative performance data.
• Support calibration accuracy-budget definition (led by the Calibration, Bring-Up & Verification focus area) with sensitivity analysis.
• Collaborate with analog, photonic, digital, and software engineers to keep subsystem designs consistent with system-level performance targets.
• Mentor engineers in system modeling, communication theory, and quantitative trade-study methodology.
• Contribute to intellectual property creation, including invention disclosures and patents.

Degree

MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a closely related field, with emphasis on communication theory, signal processing, or mixed-signal systems.

Communication Theory & Signal Processing

Deep knowledge of modulation formats, equalization, synchronization and estimation, quantization effects, and coding-gain concepts, and how each factors into an end-to-end performance budget.

System Modeling

Expert-level proficiency in Python (NumPy/SciPy) and/or MATLAB/Simulink for behavioral modeling, Monte Carlo simulation, and statistical/time-domain analysis.

Link Budget & Noise Analysis

Demonstrated ownership of an end-to-end optical or RF link budget (or equivalent SNR/noise budget), including the ability to update allocations when a component or architecture choice changes and predict the system-level impact.

Communication

Excellent written and verbal communication for cross-functional collaboration with analog, digital, photonic, and software engineers, and the ability to present quantitative trade-offs clearly to technical leadership.

What We Offer

This is an opportunity to play a pivotal role in an innovative startup redefining the future of AI hardware. Work on game-changing technology at the intersection of photonics and AI as part of a collaborative, brilliant team. You’ll contribute to a platform that redefines computational performance and accelerates the future of artificial intelligence. Come help us bring this transformative technology to the world.

Benefits

• Join a team that invests in your future and your well-being. At Neurophos, we offer:
• 100% coverage of base health plan premiums for you and your dependents, plus HSA contributions.
• Unlimited PTO. No rigid vacation banks, just a focus on delivery.
• 401(k) matching and stock option opportunities to ensure our success is your success.
• Full suite of voluntary benefits, including Dental, Vision, Life, Hospital, Critical Illness, and Accident insurance.
• Personalized Benefits. Choose the plans that fit your life and take the cash back for those that don’t.