Jobs / United States / Lightmatter INC
Principal Digital (mixed-signal) Architect
Lightmatter INC · 🇺🇸 Boston, MA; Mountain View, CA
Sponsorship verdict
Sponsorship possible
One solid signal, not two — worth applying, and worth asking about sponsorship early.
- Employer is on a government sponsor recordThe US Department of Labor certified 21 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest May 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 1 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
- The posting doesn’t mention sponsorshipSilence isn’t a refusal — ask the recruiter before investing much time.
- No salary bar for this routeH-1B has no fixed salary bar: the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and area. Cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b, rules effective 2026-02-27.
- Confirmed live todayWhen a source last listed this job as open.
US H-1B: cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level — Level I gets 1 entry, Level IV gets 4 (DHS projected selection odds ≈15% at Level I to ≈61% at Level IV). Universities and non-profit research employers are cap-exempt. The $100,000 fee for new petitions from abroad is currently blocked by a court order (appeal pending).
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Sponsor Radar — Lightmatter INC
The US Department of Labor certified 21 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest May 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 1 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
Past sponsorship or register membership never guarantees sponsorship for this vacancy or for you. Full Sponsor Radar for Lightmatter INC →
About the role
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! We are hiring a Principal Digital Architect for high-speed photonic (mixed-signal) communication chips. The selected candidate will partner with external facing teams at Lightmatter and the internal engineering team to deliver groundbreaking products to the market. As an architect, you will provide detailed technical documents that describe what needs to be built to the engineering team. This will require a solid understanding of process technology, state of the art in chip design, and clear communication skills. You will represent the company externally at technical conferences as an example of our technical leadership. In this role, you will be defining the architecture of the digital circuits that enable a ground-breaking photonic-based communication fabric. Your work will not only enable the AMS/photonic devices at low-level but also enable the necessary interfaces with the firmware/software. You will interact directly with our vendors and our customers. You will also define the product and technological roadmaps along with suitable design and verification methodologies. You will report directly to the Sr. Director of Architecture, but you will also work closely with our digital, analog, photonic, and software teams. We are looking for an experienced, hands-on digital architect with broad AMS product experience who can contribute immediately across digital, analog, photonics, and firmware teams. Photonic circuit experience is preferred; big-picture thinking is required over narrow specialization. Join a tight-knit team where each individual’s contributions directly influence the success of the company and product. You'll have the opportunity to build a new kind of computer from the ground up and to solve groundbreaking challenges along the way. Work with people who love to build and who thrive in technically diverse environments where great ideas are prioritized. Responsibilities • Be the digital architecture owner of Lightmatter’s Passage product. • Responsible for the digital architecture from initial concept through high-volume production. Work closely with the technical program manager(s) to plan, organize, and execute. • Lead direct collaboration with top tier semiconductor customer(s) throughout the product development process at the system architecture level. • Architect and specify system level digital designs integrating complex AMS and photonic circuits. These circuits include high-speed drivers and receivers, SerDes, ADC/DAC, photonic modulators and detectors. • Collaborate with the product team to develop our future technological and product roadmap. • Work closely with test and validation engineers to validate hardware against simulation prediction. • Actively collaborate and provide clear architectural direction to RTL, DV, analog, photonics, and firmware teams, bridging disciplines and unblocking execution. • Own digital control architecture for AMS and photonic circuits: stabilization algorit