Quantum Scientist

Summary

QuEra is building its next-generation quantum computer in Boston: the first fault-tolerant, universal quantum computer at a scale where commercially useful applications become possible. This is the scientific, technological and commercial frontier — and this Quantum Scientist role helps make it real.

You will join the Quantum Computing Services team early in this new machine’s life, learn QuEra’s technology platform and the specific system as it is brought up. Your focus will be calibration, benchmarking and modeling: developing and automating the processes that maintain the machine performance and building the models that explain and predict its behavior — turning a complex experimental apparatus into a well-understood, stable system.

Everything you do serves one ultimate goal: turning this machine into a quantum computing product, with dependable service, delivered both internally and externally.

Across the machine’s lifecycle you will be expected to:

• Develop and automate calibration routines that keep the machine and its subsystems performing to spec, working with the hardware and software teams to implement them in the control stack.
• Design and run benchmarking protocols that characterize system and subsystem performance and track it over time against product requirements.
• Build and validate models of the machine — from physical error mechanisms to full-system behavior — to predict performance, guide design choices and inform the roadmap.
• Sit at the interface of the hardware, software and applications, translating between them and keeping calibration, benchmarking and modeling consistent as the system evolves.
• Feed these insights back into the product and service, helping turn the machine into a reliable, programmable compute resource.

Qualifications

• A Ph.D. in experimental or computational AMO physics, quantum information, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience characterizing, calibrating or modeling a neutral-atom, trapped-ion or comparable quantum system.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, and a real interest in working at the interface of multidisciplinary teams..
• Software skills, including programming languages and a basic understanding of software architectures.
• Familiarity with quantum error correction and fault-tolerant architectures is a plus.
• Familiarity with modern AI workflows for automation is a plus.
• Success in research, as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications and/or scientific talks.
• Excitement to work at the scientific, technological and commercial frontier of quantum computing, and to help turn a flagship system into a product and service.

Salary Range: $130,000 to $210,000. We consistently monitor external market data and update base salary ranges accordingly. We determine base compensation decisions on several factors, including as geographic placement, role-specific knowledge, skills, and/or experience. In addition to our base salary offerings, we also provide equity grants for all new hires.

QuEra is committed to cultivating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We highly value diversity in our current and future employees and do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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