Coherent Optical Systems Engineer (35886)

Ottawa, ON
On-site
Posted Nov 10, 2026
1 position

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Employment type: Full-time
Minimum education: Master’s degree
Posting language: English

Job summary

Integrate, characterize, and optimize next-generation coherent optical transceivers, including developing calibration and control methods and evaluating optical, electrical, analog, and DSP components. Support hardware bring-up and debugging, automate measurement and data acquisition, analyze performance data, and collaborate across engineering teams to improve system-level performance.

Job details

Coherent Optical Systems Engineer Role Overview This role is highly specialized, and we are seeking candidates with direct experience in Optical Sub-Systems, particularly in the development of mission-critical firmware for optical pluggable devices within embedded systems environments. Successful candidates will possess strong C++ programming expertise, along with a solid understanding of multithreaded operating systems and the challenges associated with developing high-performance, reliable embedded software. The candidate will have Coherent Optical Systems Engineer to contribute to the design, development, characterization, and optimization of advanced coherent optical transceivers based on next-generation photonic integrated circuit (PIC) and digital signal processor (DSP) technologies. The successful candidate will work with early-stage PIC, DSP, and analog ASIC hardware to perform digital-optical integration, develop calibration and control methodologies, and conduct detailed system-level performance characterization. This role requires close collaboration across optical, digital, high-speed analog, ASIC, software, and systems engineering teams. A key aspect of the position is the ability to understand and balance optical, electrical, and digital system capabilities to optimize overall transceiver performance. Key Responsibilities Perform digital-optical integration of next-generation coherent optical transceivers. Develop calibration and control algorithms to maximize system-level performance. Characterize coherent optical transceivers, including SNR, OSNR tolerance, sensitivity, and other key performance metrics. Conduct detailed experimental validation of transceiver sub-components, including analog, control, optical, and DSP components. Evaluate and troubleshoot interactions between optical, electrical, and digital components. Perform characterization and analysis of high-speed ADC/DAC performance, including ENOB and related parameters. Support hardware bring-up, integration, debugging, and performance optimization. Develop automated test, measurement, and data-acquisition processes. Analyze experimental data and identify opportunities for system-level performance improvements. Collaborate with software, electronics, optics, ASIC, and systems engineering teams throughout product development. Contribute to technical decisions involving trade-offs between optical, electrical, and digital system performance. Skills And Experience Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related technical discipline, with experience in optical communications, photonics, high-speed electronics, or systems engineering. New Ph.D. graduates and experienced professionals are encouraged to apply. Strong understanding of optical communication systems, DWDM transmission, fiber transmission impairments, photonic integrated components, electronic integrated circuits, and signal processing. Hands-on experience working with optical communication hardware and components at the system level. Strong understanding of coherent communication systems, including QPSK, 16QAM, and 64QAM. Knowledge of coding and Forward Error Correction (FEC) algorithms. Experience characterizing high-speed RF and/or mm-wave interconnects, amplifiers, and components. Experience with RF/mm-wave system characterization, including S-parameter measurements, jitter measurements, ADC/DAC performance, and ENOB. Hands-on experience with high-speed optical and electrical test equipment. Experience with automated measurement equipment control and data acquisition. Programming experience with MATLAB, Python, VB.NET, C, or similar languages. Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills. Ability to work effectively in a highly collaborative, cross-functional engineering environment. , Sam Osman

What you’ll do

Requirements

A Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related discipline is sought, with expertise in optical communications, photonics, high-speed electronics, or systems engineering. Candidates should have hands-on system-level optical hardware experience, knowledge of coherent modulation and FEC, high-speed RF and ADC/DAC characterization, test automation, and programming experience in MATLAB, Python, VB.NET, C, or similar languages.