Senior Analog/Mixed-Signal Design Lead

THE OPPORTUNITY

Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup building a breakthrough AI accelerator for the data centre, powered by 3D optical compute. Our technology uses light rather than electricity to perform the matrix multiplications at the heart of AI inference — at speeds and scales electronics cannot reach, and at a fraction of the energy.

The performance and efficiency gains we are unlocking could reset the economics of AI infrastructure and change how intelligence scales globally.

If you want to bring genuinely new technology to market and work at the edge of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can do it.

ABOUT LUMAI

Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models and other transformer-based AI systems. Our team brings together optical computing, machine learning, physics, and silicon expertise.

We have raised over $15 million from leading deep-tech investors and government grants, and we are scaling quickly to deploy the fastest optical compute available anywhere. Every day here is spent on technology that did not exist five years ago. You will not be maintaining legacy systems.

THE ROLE

Lumai is building the analog front end that will define how our photonic compute engine talks to the rest of the world. As Senior Analog/Mixed-Signal Design Lead, you will own the technical direction, architecture, and tapeout of the analog and mixed-signal blocks that sit at the heart of our photonic receiver chain, from high-speed data converters through to the control and calibration loops that keep them accurate in silicon.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You will carry design authority over the mixed-signal roadmap while directly leading and mentoring a small, high-calibre team of analog and mixed-signal designers. You will be the person the rest of engineering turns to when a tapeout decision needs to be made, a schedule needs to be defended, or a subtle analog non-ideality needs to be understood and fixed.

You will report to VP Engineering or the Head of ASIC, and work in close partnership with photonics, digital/RTL, verification, layout, and AI software teams to ensure the analog front end meets system-level performance targets end to end.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Architecture & Tapeout Ownership

• Own the architecture and technical roadmap for Lumai's analog and mixed-signal blocks, including high-speed analog front ends, ADC/DAC subsystems, and the calibration infrastructure that supports them.

• Carry full ownership of tapeout milestones for mixed-signal IP — from architecture definition and circuit design through verification sign-off, GDS release, and post-silicon bring-up.

• Drive process node selection and qualification decisions for analog IP, with direct experience at TSMC N12 or a comparable advanced node informing trade-offs on power, area, matching, and reliability.

• Own risk identification and mitigation across the mixed-signal programme, communicating schedule and technical risk clearly to engineering leadership.

Team & Design Methodology

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of analog/mixed-signal IC designers, setting technical standards, design review practices, and career development paths.

• Set and enforce design methodology across the team: schematic review standards, simulation coverage (PVT, Monte Carlo), and documentation practices.

• Represent the mixed-signal domain in cross-functional design reviews, architecture decisions, and hiring.

Cross-Functional & Foundry Partnership

• Act as the primary technical point of contact with the foundry and PDK teams for analog/mixed-signal IP, including model qualification, DRC/LVS waivers, and reliability sign-off.

• Partner with the photonics team to co-design the electrical/optical interface, ensuring the analog receiver chain (TIAs, VGAs, ADCs) is matched to the photonic detector characteristics.

• Guide calibration algorithm co-design with digital/firmware teams, ensuring silicon-measurable non-idealities (offset, gain error, timing skew) are correctable in the field.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

Must-Have

• 10+ years of analog/mixed-signal IC design experience, with demonstrated technical leadership of a team or design workstream.

• At least one production tapeout owned end-to-end at TSMC N12 or a comparable advanced CMOS/FinFET node (12nm–16nm class).

• Deep hands-on expertise in high-speed analog front-end design, ADC/DAC architectures, or comparable high-speed mixed-signal circuits.

• Proven experience leading or managing analog/mixed-signal designers, including design review, mentoring, and technical career development.

• Strong command of full-custom analog design flows (Cadence Virtuoso/Spectre or equivalent), including corner and Monte Carlo simulation methodology.

• Track record of working directly with foundries on PDK qualification, model validation, and reliability/DRC-LVS sign-off.

• Comfortable owning schedule and risk communication with engineering leadership, including trade-off decisions under time and resource constraints.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate deep technical detail for cross-functional and leadership audiences.

Strong Preference For

• Experience with photonic or optical receiver front ends, or other sensor-interface analog design.

• FD-SOI or body-bias design experience (e.g. GlobalFoundries 22FDX or similar).

• Direct involvement in ADC/DAC calibration technique development (background, foreground, or mixed-mode calibration).

• Prior experience at a fabless startup or research spin-out, from first tapeout through product qualification.

• Experience building or scaling an analog/mixed-signal design team from a small base.

• Contributions to published research or patents in analog/mixed-signal IC design.

• Familiarity with AI/ML inference hardware or high-throughput compute architectures.

INTERVIEW PROCESS

Four stages. An opening conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we need from it; two technical sessions with members of the engineering team; and a closing HR session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We move quickly on candidates we are excited about — expect roughly three to four weeks end to end.

Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We hire on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build. Applications are welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send us a note anyway.

About Lumai

Lumai is the optical compute company building the next generation of AI infrastructure. Spun out of optics research at the University of Oxford in 2021, we compute with light instead of electrons. Our 3D optical technology carries out the matrix multiplications at the heart of AI inside beams of light travelling through free space, which lets it go beyond the limits of both silicon GPUs and integrated photonics.

In April 2026 we launched Iris Nova, the world's first optical computing system to run billion-parameter large language models in real time, using up to 90% less energy than conventional GPU-based systems. Iris Nova, the first server in the family, is now available for evaluation by hyperscalers, neoclouds, enterprises and research institutions. Aura and Tetra will follow.

Our work won the Falling Walls Award for Science Breakthrough of the Year 2025 and 'Best Overall Technology' at the OCP Future Technologies Symposium. We are headquartered in Oxford.

Why Lumai

You'll work on a new kind of computer. Optical computing for AI has been promised for decades. We have a working system running real models, and the hard part left is taking it to volume.

Your work ships. We are moving from first product to volume production, so what you build this year goes into the servers our customers run.

You'll work across disciplines. Optical engineers, machine learning researchers, and hardware and software engineers solve problems together. You will learn things that don't appear on your job description.

The work matters beyond Lumai. AI's appetite for energy is one of the defining constraints of the next decade. Our mission is sustainable intelligence at global scale: AI that is faster, cheaper to run and far less power-hungry.

You'll join early. You'll have a real say in how we build the product, the team and the way we work.

Equal Opportunity

Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions based on skills, experience and potential, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. If you need an adjustment at any stage of the hiring process, let us know and we will do our best to support you.