Painter received his PhD from Caltech in 2001 under the supervision of Prof. Axel Scherer. After graduation, Painter helped found Xponent Photonics along with Pete Sercel and Caltech colleagues Kerry Vahala and Amnon Yariv. Painter joined the Caltech faculty in 2002, as an assistant professor of Applied Physics. In 2012, he became Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and was awarded a Humboldt Professorship in 2013. In 2014, he returned to Caltech. Painter has also served as the co-director of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute and co-PI of the Institute of Quantum Information and Matter during his time at Caltech.