Staff Engineer - Trap Control Design

The salary range for this position is $153,003 to $200,300.

We are looking for an Engineer or Physicist for the role of Staff Engineer - Trap Control Design. As a Staff Engineer in the Micro-architecture team, you’ll be part of a cross-functional team which architects the core (pun-intended) of our systems, and whose mission is to lead IonQ on its journey to build the world’s best quantum computers to solve the world’s most complex problems. 

At IonQ, our sophisticated ion traps are the hearts of our quantum computers. Those traps use hundreds of control electrodes to keep our qubits suspended in free space, at exactly the right position to get the job done. Orchestrating the correct series of voltage pulses to load, shuttle, and maintain ion configurations is a deep problem. We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Engineer to join our team of quantum computing experts to help with this area. In this role you will play a critical role in the development of the control systems for our ion trap quantum computing platforms. You will be responsible for designing, simulating, and optimizing control potentials which manipulate our trapped ions with high precision and fidelity. You will work closely with our System Operators and Physicists to bring out the full potential of IonQ's quantum systems.

Responsibilities: 

• Design and optimize control potentials for ion trap quantum computing systems to perform operations such as ion loading, qubit initialization, gate operations, and readout.
• Develop simulation models to predict the behavior of quantum systems under various control waveforms and environmental conditions.
• Collaborate with physicists and system operators to implement and validate control potentials on hardware platforms.
• Contribute to the development of software tools and frameworks for potential design, simulation, and optimization.
• Stay current with the latest research and advancements in quantum control techniques and contribute to the continuous improvement of our quantum computing platforms.
• Document design processes, results, and best practices for knowledge sharing and future reference.

You’d be a good fit with: 

• A graduate degree (MSc or PhD) in electrical engineering, computational engineering, software engineering, physics or a related field with experience operating or supporting experimental hardware.
• Proficiency in scientific Python
• Familiarity with numerical optimization, such as gradient-based optimization algorithms, convex optimization, or machine learning-based approaches.

You’d be a great fit with: 

• 5 -10 years experience in a professional or academic setting.
• Prior experience in experimental quantum computing or related fields.
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop simulation techniques for quantum systems.
• Experience with trapped ion systems.
• Experience with quantum computing or quantum information theory
• Familiarity with languages such as Javascript, Go, and Rust.
• Familiarity with industry-standard software development practices and version control systems.

This role can be located at any of our offices in College Park, Maryland, Seattle, Washington, or Toronto.