Principal Product Manager, Photonics

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Principal Product Manager, Photonics
Mountain View, CA
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Lightmatter is leading the revolution in AI data center infrastructure, enabling the next giant leaps in human progress. The company invented the world’s first 3D-stacked photonics engine, Passage™, capable of connecting thousands to millions of processors at the speed of light in extreme-scale data centers for the most advanced AI and HPC workloads.
Lightmatter raised $400 million in its Series D round, reaching a valuation of $4.4 billion. We will continue to accelerate the development of data center photonics and grow every department at Lightmatter!
If you're passionate about tackling complex challenges, making an impact, and being an expert in your craft, join our team of brilliant scientists, engineers, and accomplished industry leaders.
Lightmatter is (re)inventing the future of computing with light!
If you want to do your career’s most impactful work, consider joining the product team at Lightmatter! We are charting the path for the future of AI infrastructure. We are looking for an exceptional product leader with a track record of tackling challenging problems and driving results while prioritizing the team over their own interests.
As Principal Product Manager, Photonics, you will lead product definition, positioning, and execution for some of Lightmatter's most strategic products, including photonics computing. You will drive design wins with leading AI XPU companies, cloud providers, and AI infrastructure builders, positioning Lightmatter at the center of the next generation of AI compute and networking.
Reporting directly to the VP of Product Management, you will work closely with engineering, sales, solution architects, operations, finance, and the executive team to accelerate Lightmatter product adoption in this fast-growing market.
Responsibilities:
Lead product definition, SKU strategy, and market positioning & messaging for Lightmatter's products, including full MRD/PRD ownership.
Define and own the product roadmap for Lightmatter’s photonic computing platform, grounded in a deep understanding of ML workloads, model architecture, and hardware & software co-design trade-offs.
Engage directly with AI/ML experts, cloud architects, and compute platform teams to validate product-market fit and shape the technical roadmap around real customer needs.
Translate ML workload-level requirements into photonics computing product requirements in collaboration with engineering.
Drive rollout to lead customers and manage full product lifecycle from early development through production and EOL.
Develop pricing guidelines, margin analysis, and revenue forecasts establishing competitiveness and profitability in support of corporate financial goals.
Represent Lightmatter at key industry forums and speaking events as a product leader and subject matter expert.
Produce high-quality outbound technical and marketing collateral in conjunction with product marketing and documentation teams.
Brief top industry press, analysts, and investors on Lightmatter product strategies, competitive advantages, and market positioning.
Qualifications
Strong, hands-on understanding of the AI/ML systems architecture — including ML model fundamentals, training and inference workload characteristics, XPU and accelerator architectures, and datacenter-scale system design.
15+ years of related industry experience with 10+ years in product management, product marketing, applications engineering, or business development roles driving high-complexity semiconductor or systems products to market.
Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
Proven ability to drive products through the full development cycle: business case → definition → development → design-in → production → EOL
Experience with datacenter products and technologies, including compute infrastructure, optical networking, provisioning, and operations at scale..
Strong end-to-end understanding of semiconductor chip development and the AI hardware ecosystem.
Data-driven decision-maker with strong ability to synthesize technical and market data into product strategy.
Effective cross-functional communicator who can bridge engineering depth and executive-level clarity.
Preferred Qualifications
Advanced degrees in optics/photonics or computer architecture.
Deep technical knowledge of silicon photonics and/or optical interconnect technologies.
Broad professional network across photonics, AI/ML, semiconductor, and cloud infrastructure segments.
Self-starter with strong bias for action in a fast-paced, high-ambiguity environment — comfortable managing competing priorities and driving to results quickly.
"No task too big or small" attitude with a genuine willingness to roll up sleeves wherever needed.
We offer competitive compensation. The base salary range for this role determined based on location, experience, educational background, and market data.
Salary Range: total compensation goes beyond base salary, it also includes a new hire equity grant, annual performance-based equity, and other rewards that recognize your impact and contribution.
$226,000 - $317,000 USD
Benefits
Comprehensive Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
Retirement Savings Matching Program
Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
Generous Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
Paid Family Leave
Short Term & Long Term Disability
Training & Development
Commuter Benefits
Flexible, hybrid workplace model
Equity grants (applicable to full-time employees)
Benefits eligibility may vary depending on your employment status and location. Lightmatter recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.
Export Control
Candidates should have capacity to comply with the federally mandated requirements of U.S. export control laws.
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