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Salary: USD 226,000 - 317,000 / annual
Lightmatter is a venture-backed AI infrastructure company that invented the world's first 3D-stacked photonics engine (Passage™) for connecting thousands to millions of processors at the speed of light in extreme-scale data centers. The company raised $400M in Series D at a $4.4B valuation and is accelerating development of data center photonics.
As Principal Product Manager, Photonics, you will lead product definition, positioning, and execution for Lightmatter's most strategic products, including photonics computing. You will report directly to the VP of Product Management and work closely with engineering, sales, solution architects, operations, finance, and the executive team.
Key responsibilities include:
- Lead product definition, SKU strategy, and market positioning for Lightmatter's products, with full MRD/PRD ownership
- Define and own the product roadmap for the photonic computing platform, grounded in 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 to establish competitiveness and profitability
- Represent Lightmatter at key industry forums and speaking events as a product leader and subject matter expert
- Produce high-quality technical and marketing collateral in conjunction with product marketing and documentation teams
- Brief top industry press, analysts, and investors on product strategies, competitive advantages, and market positioning
This is a high-impact role at the center of next-generation AI compute and networking infrastructure, requiring deep technical expertise and the ability to drive complex products to market.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Strong, hands-on understanding of 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 degree 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 fast-paced, high-ambiguity environments
- "No task too big or small" attitude with genuine willingness to roll up sleeves wherever needed
