Photonics Account Manager – 100%

Lightium AG, a Swiss startup advancing photonic integrated circuits built on thin-film lithium niobate, is looking for a Photonics Account Manager to be the steady connector between customers and the company’s technical specialists. The role is onsite in Schlieren, ZH, and suits someone who likes turning complex engagements into clear, trusted partnerships. The team is building a new wave of photonics manufacturing, and this position plays a central part in shaping how customers experience Lightium from first contact through long-term production agreements.

Reporting to the CRO, the role sits inside the Commercial Team and is a natural fit for someone who thrives in a startup setting, loves coordinating cross-functional work, and keeps customers updated every step of the way. If you enjoy managing multi-disciplinary programs, bridging R&D and operations, and ensuring programs stay on track, you’ll find this role rewarding. Lightium is an equal opportunity employer.

Guiding the customer journey from kickoff to delivery

You’ll own the full customer journey for Lightium’s foundry services, guiding programs from kickoff and design submission through DRC reporting, regular update meetings, shipments, invoicing and after-sales support. Your strength will be keeping customers informed and confident about where things stand, thanks to strong organization and proactive communication.

You’ll serve as the single customer-facing contact for each run, routing technical questions to the right internal experts and closing the loop with the customer. Regular internal syncs with the R&D and Operations teams help you maintain alignment, while you keep CRM records tidy and up-to-date across all active engagements.

In addition, you’ll help design and refine internal processes so the customer journey scales as Lightium grows. You’ll draft best practices and standard operating procedures across tools like CRM, the Customer Portal, PLM and ERP to ensure today’s approach can support a larger team tomorrow.

You’ll contribute to shaping Lightium’s customer portal in collaboration with DevOps, ensuring fully traceable data sharing with customers, ranging from PDKs and technical updates to shipments and delivery notes. Building durable relationships with customer program managers, engineering leads and other decision-makers will be a core part of your routine, and you’ll represent Lightium at related tradeshows. The role requires regular international travel to events and customer visits, and occasional meetings outside standard European office hours to accommodate different time zones.

What Lightium needs from you

Here’s what the team considers essential for success in this position.

• An advanced degree in photonics, engineering, physics or a closely related technical field
• Three to seven years of experience in technical sales, account management, project or program management, or customer success within a semiconductor or photonics setting, with a track record of juggling multiple engagements with tight timelines
• A solid grasp of photonics or semiconductor concepts, enabling credible discussions with a customer’s engineering team even if you won’t design chips yourself
• Strong organizational discipline that keeps items tracked, follows up consistently, and maintains current folders and information
• Customer-centric communication that translates complex internal status into clear, professional client-facing language and documents
• Collaboration and the ability to influence across teams and external partners, including fab partners and OSATs, across cultural differences
• Adaptability to a fast-moving startup environment, with a willingness to help shape evolving processes
• English fluency is required; German, French, Mandarin, or another Asian language is a plus

Nice-to-haves

The following items would set you apart.

• Experience in a foundry or contract manufacturing environment is a strong advantage
• Business or project management training is a plus
• Additional language skills beyond English

Pay, benefits and practical details

Lightium offers a competitive compensation and benefits package, including an employee stock option plan (ESOP), fully-covered Pillar Two, and generous vacation. The role is onsite in Schlieren, ZH, with regular international travel to tradeshows, conferences and customer visits. Lightium also provides flexible working hours, though some meetings will be scheduled outside standard European office hours to accommodate time zones.

Tips to stand out for this Photonics Account Manager role

Highlight at the top of your resume your advanced degree and your years of hands-on experience in technical sales or account management within photonics or semiconductors, plus a track record of managing multiple engagements with tight timelines.

When you describe your experience, illustrate how you’ve kept customers informed across MPW-like programs, coordinating with R&D and operations to deliver on time, and how you translated technical status into concise client-facing updates. If you have worked with a customer portal or CRM-driven processes, share concrete outcomes or improvements you helped implement.

Prepare for interviews by discussing how you would approach building and refining SOPs, and how you’ve interfaced with fab partners and OSATs to align schedules and expectations. Bring examples that show your ability to move things forward even when processes are still being built in a startup setting.

Ask a thoughtful question about how Lightium plans to scale its customer journey processes and how this role will coordinate with R&D and operations to maintain trust as the company grows.