Physicist - Resilience Engineering & Operations

IonQ•Bothell, WA

16h•$114,750 - $150,237•Hybrid

About The Position

About IonQ: IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum company delivering solutions to solve the world’s most complex problems. IonQ’s newest generation quantum computers, IonQ Tempo and IonQ Forte Enterprise, are the latest in cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners such as Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, and NVIDIA achieve 20x performance results. The company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance in 2025. The company is accelerating its technology roadmap and intends to deliver the world’s most powerful quantum computers with 2 million qubits by 2030 to accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. IonQ’s advancements in quantum networking position the company as a leader in building the quantum internet. Location: This role is based at our Bothell, WA office, with the option to work a few days a week remotely. Travel: 5% or less Job ID: 1491 The Role: We’re looking for a Senior System Operations Engineer for our bleeding edge quantum computers that are based on trapped ion technology. You’ll be part of a cross-functional team whose mission is to operate and improve IonQ’s industry-leading quantum computers. In the first three months on the job, you’d be learning how to maintain our quantum computers’ hardware and software. Recent graduates in physics and related fields are encouraged to apply; we will train you in quantum computer maintenance and operation!

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in physics, engineering, or another physical science
Desire and capability to work closely on a team that is distributed - excellent communication skills and a collaborative mindset
Hands on experience with optical alignments, laser stabilization, and/or AOMs
A propensity for learning new things and fascination with emerging technologies
Formal training or education in statistics
Capable of adapting for an ever-growing and ever-changing work environment
Disposition to work flexible working hours, on a 24/7 oncall shift where the rotation changes as needed
1+ year laboratory experience in atomic and/or optical physics

Nice To Haves

PhD in physics, engineering, or another physical science
Deep experience with Javascript or Python
A background in data analysis, data science, or machine learning
Software Engineering experience

Responsibilities

Participate in follow-the-sun on-call rotations to keep our systems running at peak performance.
Ensure high uptime and performance of our commercial quantum computers, through alert response, monitoring, and engineering of state-of-the-art quantum computers.
Work collaboratively with other System Operators on improvements and processes and practices to make operating quantum systems easier and more efficient.
Communicate with customers to coordinate access and inform on system status.
Remotely interfacing with quantum systems to impact performance using documented procedures.
Interpreting telemetry to aid in deeper understanding of quantum system status.
Clearly communicating with teams working across multiple timezones.