Director of Photonics Project Engineering

Join our fast-paced and passionate team as a Director of Photonics Project Engineering. As we scale, you will be instrumental in building our foundation from the ground up. This is a dynamic, hands-on role for a self-starter who thrives in a fluid startup environment. You'll have the opportunity to work on cutting edge technologies, work closely with leadership, and develop and implement engineering practices that support our mission and growth. Your key responsibilities are as follows:

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of photonics project engineers.
• Set best practices for project engineering, program execution, and technical accountability.
• Align project engineers to programs based on technical complexity, risk, and resource needs.
• Foster a culture of ownership, rigor, transparency, and continuous improvement.

Project Ownership

• Own end-to-end execution for new photonics systems and modules, including:
• Schedule development and tracking
• Budget planning and cost control
• Resource planning and prioritization
• Drive cross-functional execution across optics, lasers, PICs, electronics, firmware, mechanical, manufacturing, reliability, and supply chain.
• Lead phase-gate or milestone-based development processes (concept, prototype, EVT/DVT/PVT, production release).
• Proactively identify technical, schedule, cost, and supply risks and drive mitigation plans.

Technical Project Leadership

• Ensure strong technical alignment across disciplines for complex photonics architectures.
• Guide trade studies involving performance, reliability, manufacturability, and cost.
• Ensure design decisions consider high-volume manufacturing, yield, reliability, and long-term scalability.
• Partner with reliability and quality teams to ensure robust qualification and validation plans.

Stakeholder & Executive Communication

• Provide clear status reporting to executive leadership.
• Communicate risks, tradeoffs, and recovery plans effectively.
• Serve as the primary execution interface between engineering, operations, and product leadership.

Requirements

• This position requires access to export-controlled information. Employment is contingent upon the applicant being a U.S. person as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)

Experience :

• Bachelor’s degree in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related field (master’s preferred).
• 15+ years of experience in photonics system or module development.
• 5+ years leading technical project engineering teams.
• Strong background in photonics technologies such as lasers, PICs, fiber-optic systems, opto-mechanics, and optical packaging.
• Proven experience owning schedules, budgets, and resourcing for complex hardware programs.
• Experience driving products from early development through production.

Preferred Experience:

• High-volume manufacturing of photonics systems or modules.
• Telecommunications, datacom, quantum, LiDAR, sensing, or laser-based systems.
• Experience with advanced optical attach and packaging methods (active alignment, adhesive bonding, soldering, welding).
• Familiarity with reliability engineering, qualification standards, and yield ramp.

Startup Mindset:

• You're creative, flexible, and eager to wear multiple hats.
• You're passionate about building systems from the ground up and comfortable with ambiguity and change.

Benefits

The expected annual salary range for this position is $200,000-$300,000.

As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for Monarch’s comprehensive benefits package, which includes:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
• Fidelity 401(k) plan with 4% employer matching
• 20 paid time off (PTO) days per year
• 13 paid company holidays
• 9/80 work schedule (every other Friday off)

Monarch Quantum is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, veteran status or any other characteristics protected under applicable federal, state and local laws.