Laser Designer

Laser Designer

Ottawa, ON, Canada  |  Full-Time  |  Ranovus

About Us

Ranovus is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, developing next-generation co-packaged optics (CPO) solutions for AI and data center interconnects. Our Odin optical engine integrates a Quantum Dot Multi-Wavelength Laser, Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC), and ASIC into a single co-packaged module – delivering the performance and density required by hyperscale AI infrastructure.

The Role

We are hiring a Laser Designer to design and simulate the next generation of III-V laser and photonic devices. This is an on-site role at Ranovus in Ottawa, suited to a recent PhD graduate or an engineer with up to 3 years of industry experience.

You will work across the full device design cycle: from active-region and cavity simulation, through passive photonic structures such as edge couplers and tapered waveguides, to supporting fabrication and test. You will work closely with external vendors for epitaxy and fabrication, and with internal packaging, characterization and qualification teams, and your designs will go into real products.

What you'll do

• Design and simulate semiconductor diode lasers, including DFB lasers, SOAs and EAMs, covering gain, optical modes, thermal behaviour and high-speed performance.
• Run FDTD and other electromagnetic simulations of photonic structures such as edge couplers, spot-size converters and tapered waveguides, and optimize them for coupling efficiency and fabrication tolerance.
• Translate simulation results into mask layouts and design rules and hand designs off to external epitaxy and fab vendors, working with them on process capabilities, wafer specifications and run results.
• Compare simulated and measured device data, find the root cause of gaps, and feed lessons back into the next design spin.
• Build and maintain Python tools for simulation automation, parameter sweeps and data analysis, versioned and reviewed in Git.
• Document designs clearly and present results in design reviews.

What you'll bring

• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Engineering Physics or a related field, with 0 to 3 years of post-PhD industry or research experience.
• Hands-on experience with diode laser device simulation (for example Laser MOD, PICS3D, Harold or equivalent tools).
• Experience with FDTD and 2D mode solver analysis of photonic structures such as edge couplers or ridge waveguides (for example Lumerical FDTD, Ansys or Synopsys tools).
• Experience with optical analysis of multilayer dielectric coatings, such as AR and HR facet coatings.
• Working knowledge of DFB lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and electro-absorption modulators (EAMs).
• A solid background in III-V semiconductor physics and materials, such as InP or GaAs material systems.
• Proficiency in Python for scientific computing, automation and data analysis.
• Clear written and verbal communication, and comfort working on-site with cross-functional teams.

Nice to have

• Experience with photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design, mode solvers (FDE/EME) or beam propagation methods.
• Exposure to device fabrication, wafer-level test or laser characterization (L-I-V, spectra, RIN, small-signal response).
• Familiarity with mask layout tools such as KLayout, gdsfactory or Nazca.
• Knowledge of datacom or telecom applications, such as O-band and C-band transceivers or co-packaged optics.
• Publications or patents in semiconductor lasers or integrated photonics.
• Experience with collaborative software development using Git.

You Belong At Ranovus 

We appreciate the time you invest in exploring opportunities with us. At Ranovus, we believe diverse perspectives and a strong sense of belonging are essential to building innovative technology and resilient teams. If your experience doesn’t match every requirement, we still encourage you to apply. We value curiosity, growth, and the unique strengths each person brings.

Ranovus is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds and lived experiences, including those from equity-deserving and underrepresented communities. We are committed to an accessible recruitment process in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Accommodations are available at any stage of the hiring process on request. Reach out to our Talent team at [email protected] for support.

We are committed to a respectful and transparent candidate experience, with clear and timely communication at every stage. We use AI tools to help screen and assess applications. These tools help with consistency and efficiency, but they don’t replace human judgment. All hiring decisions are made by people, guided by care, context, and fairness.

Thank you for your interest in this role, an existing vacancy on our team. We look forward to connecting with you.