Principal Quantum Systems Software Development Engineer

Microsoft • Redmond, WA

2d

About The Position

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. At Microsoft Quantum, we aim to empower science and scientists to solve the world's biggest problems by realizing advanced computing platforms at the intersection of high-performance computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum information technology. For more information about our team, visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/quantum.
As a Principal Quantum Systems Software Development Engineer in our Quantum Systems organization, you will lead software architecture and delivery of software components that connect topological qubit hardware to compilers, runtimes, services, and tools—paving the way from today’s devices to larger topological QPUs. You’ll collaborate across hardware, control & readout, compilers, and cloud to turn research breakthroughs into robust, production‑grade systems that accelerate scientific discovery. If you love hard systems problems at the physics–software boundary and use AI to go faster, let’s talk!
Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Requirements

• Doctorate in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years software industry experience, including developing commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years software industry experience, including developing commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years software industry experience, including developing commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications OR equivalent experience.
• 6+ years programming experience in related programming languages.
• 6+ years experience in a collaborative environment.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
• Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This role will require access to information that is controlled for export under export control regulations, potentially under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the EU Dual Use Regulation, and/or other export control regulations. As a condition of employment, the successful candidate will be required to provide either proof of their country of citizenship or proof of their U.S. permanent residency or other protected status (e.g., under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)) for assessment of eligibility to access the export-controlled information. To meet this legal requirement, and as a condition of employment, the successful candidate’s citizenship will be verified with a valid passport. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees may verify status using other documents, where applicable.
• Ability to work in an "AI first" environment using modern AI tools to accelerate discovery through hardware development.
• Familiarity with designing and building AI agents/copilots that assist with experiment setup, log triage, measurement report generation, protocol templating, and knowledge retrieval (e.g. instrument manuals, design docs).

Nice To Haves

• Proven experience leading architecture for complex, multi‑service platforms; setting technical direction and landing it across teams.
• Proficient on Windows and Linux; confident with VS Code, CMake, Git/GitHub, Azure DevOps, and deep proficiency in one or more of: C++/Python/Rust/C#, with strong systems design and debugging skills.
• Background in quantum computing systems or nearby domains (controls/FPGA/firmware, compilers/runtime systems, real‑time signal processing, or HPC/streaming data)
• Hands‑on with some of the following: hardware/software integration, device drivers/HALs, real‑time or near‑real‑time data paths, RPC/gRPC, observability (metrics/logs/traces), and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

• Integrate the topological qubit platform with Microsoft’s quantum software stack. Define and evolve interfaces between device control/readout, error‑syndrome pipelines, QIR/QDK toolchains, and Azure services.
• Drive the software architecture and technical roadmap for scale‑up. Lead multi‑year design for control, decoding, and orchestration systems that support progressively larger topological QPUs and higher logical‑qubit counts.
• Design, implement, integrate, and test major system components. Ship production‑quality services, runtimes, and APIs spanning device orchestration, calibration & tuning automation, data pipelines, observability, and reliability.
• Use AI every day to go faster and improve quality. Apply Copilot/LLM workflows for design reviews, code generation, test authoring, telemetry triage, and experiment planning; establish team guardrails for responsible AI use in engineering.
• Lead and mentor. Provide technical guidance, design leadership, and coaching for junior and mid‑career engineers; set high bars for code health, testing, documentation, and design rigor; Champion secure-by-default practices.
• Champion engineering excellence. Drive secure‑by‑design practices, CI/CD, robust test strategy (simulation‑in‑the‑loop and hardware‑in‑the‑loop), live‑site standards, and measurable quality gates across the stack.
• Collaborate across disciplines. Work directly with experimentalists, control & readout electronics engineers, quantum architects, and compiler/runtime teams to turn requirements into shipped capabilities.
• Embody our Culture and Values

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree