Associate Director Quantum Technologies

EY•Atlanta, DC

1d•$159,300 - $358,400

About The Position

EY's Next Frontier Quantum team helps organizations manage quantum-era risk and develop practical quantum-enabled opportunities, with a portfolio focused on quantum-safe cybersecurity, post-quantum cryptography (PQC), cryptographic modernization and agility, and selective quantum computing innovation and ecosystem partnerships. The Associate Director provides technical, strategic, commercial and people leadership across EY's quantum safety portfolio. The role leads complex client engagements, shapes market offerings, develops talent, and advises senior stakeholders on quantum risk, cryptographic transformation and PQC adoption. It combines enterprise cryptography expertise with vendor and standards knowledge, consulting leadership, and the ability to translate advanced technology into executable programs and commercial outcomes. The position leads quantum-risk and PQC-readiness assessments; defines quantum-safe strategies, architectures, roadmaps and migration plans; and directs cryptographic discovery and modernization across enterprise systems. It also supports vendor and standards leadership, client delivery and commercialization, and multidisciplinary team development. Select responsibilities involve identifying quantum-computing use cases and guiding carefully benchmarked proofs of concept. EY seeks candidates with a master's degree or PhD in a relevant field, or equivalent professional experience, significant relevant experience, and demonstrated delivery in PQC readiness, cryptographic discovery or modernization, protocol engineering, encryption services or quantum-safe transformation. Relevant certifications and experience in consulting, technology, research, government, product organizations, or regulated and critical-infrastructure sectors are desirable. The role is offered in US offices. The listed annual base salary ranges by geography are $191,100–$344,100 for New York City, Boston, Washington DC Metro Areas, Washington State and Southern California; $199,100–$358,400 for Bay Area California offices; and $159,300–$315,400 for other US offices, including Sacramento. Individual compensation depends on factors including education, experience, knowledge, skills and geography. EY describes its rewards package as including medical and dental coverage, pension and 401(k) plans, and paid time off, including paid holidays and flexible vacation.

Requirements

Deep expertise in PQC, crypto-agility, cryptographic governance, enterprise architecture, quantum-risk assessment and migration strategy.
Strong delivery experience across PKI, CLM, KMS, HSM, IAM, TLS, SSH, signing, secure networking, encryption and cryptographic lifecycle management.
Knowledge of lattice-based, code-based and hash-based cryptography; algorithm implementation, protocol engineering, side-channel considerations and testing.
Experience with cryptographic discovery, inventory design, dependency mapping, prioritization, vendor evaluation, benchmarking and proof-of-concept delivery.
Executive communication, consulting, commercial shaping, structured problem-solving and client relationship-management skills.
Ability to lead globally distributed, multidisciplinary teams and balance scientific rigor, engineering feasibility, security and market value.
Master's degree or PhD in cryptography, cybersecurity, computer science, mathematics, physics, engineering or a related field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
Significant experience in cybersecurity, cryptography, quantum technologies, enterprise architecture, technical product leadership or advanced computing, including responsibility for complex programs and senior stakeholders.
Demonstrated delivery in PQC readiness, cryptographic discovery, PKI or key-management modernization, protocol engineering, encryption services or quantum-safe transformation.
Working familiarity with QAOA, VQE, hybrid classical-quantum architectures and platforms such as Qiskit, PennyLane, Amazon Braket or CUDA-Q.

Nice To Haves

Proficiency in Python is desirable.
Familiarity with C or C++, cloud-native architecture, APIs, containers, CI/CD or accelerated computing is beneficial.
Experience creating architecture blueprints, standards, policies, roadmaps, proposals, patents, research outputs, executive materials or commercial offerings.
Experience in consulting, technology, research, government or product organizations and in regulated or critical-infrastructure sectors is desirable.
Relevant security, cryptography, cloud, architecture or quantum certifications are desirable.

Responsibilities

Lead enterprise quantum-risk and PQC-readiness assessments across governance, data, applications, infrastructure, cryptographic assets, third parties and operating models.
Define quantum-safe strategies, target-state architectures, prioritized roadmaps and migration plans aligned to business criticality, data sensitivity, regulation and technology dependencies.
Direct cryptographic discovery, inventory and dependency mapping covering certificates, keys, algorithms, protocols, libraries and services.
Lead modernization across PKI, certificate lifecycle management, KMS, HSM, IAM, secrets management, TLS, SSH, VPN, signing and enterprise encryption.
Design crypto-agile governance and engineering patterns supporting hybrid deployment, algorithm replacement and phased migration.
Guide evaluation, benchmarking, piloting and implementation of PQC algorithms, and assess implementations for protocol fit, interoperability, performance, side-channel exposure, certificate and key impacts, compliance and operational risk.
Advise executives on quantum algorithms, harvest-now-decrypt-later exposure, supplier readiness and third-party migration roadmaps.
Maintain knowledge of the PQC and quantum-security vendor landscape; evaluate vendors and advise on market scans, build-buy-partner decisions, information requests, proofs of concept and technology selection.
Monitor and interpret developments from NIST, ETSI, IETF, ISO or IEC, FIPS, and relevant regulatory or industry initiatives; build relationships across the technology and standards ecosystem.
Lead complex, multi-workstream engagements from opportunity shaping and mobilization through delivery, executive readout and implementation planning.
Own engagement scope, quality, financial performance, staffing, risks, dependencies, governance and stakeholder expectations across global teams.
Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders, including CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, Chief Risk Officers, enterprise architects and data-protection leaders.
Shape go-to-market strategy and offerings for quantum-risk assessment, crypto discovery, crypto-agility, PQC migration, quantum-resistant networking and quantum cyber defense.
Translate research, patents, prototypes and vendor capabilities into repeatable services, accelerators, reference architectures, demonstrations and business cases.
Lead and mentor multidisciplinary teams of cryptographers, architects, engineers, researchers, product specialists and consultants.
Produce executive-ready proposals, roadmaps, architecture blueprints, standards, whitepapers and thought leadership; represent EY in relevant industry forums.
Maintain sufficient quantum-computing knowledge to identify credible use cases and connect quantum-safety strategy with the broader quantum ecosystem.
Guide selective proofs of concept in optimization, simulation or quantum machine learning, using defensible classical baselines, benchmarking and business-value assessment.