Quantum Architect – Simulation

PsiQuantum • Palo Alto, CA

13d

About The Position

PsiQuantum’s mission is to build the first useful quantum computers—machines capable of delivering the breakthroughs the field has long promised. Since our founding in 2016, our singular focus has been to build and deploy million-qubit, fault-tolerant quantum systems. Quantum computers harness the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that even the most advanced supercomputers or AI systems will never reach. Their impact will span energy, pharmaceuticals, finance, agriculture, transportation, materials, and other foundational industries. Our architecture and approach is based on silicon photonics. By leveraging the advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry—including partners like GlobalFoundries—we use the same high-volume processes that already produce billions of chips for telecom and consumer electronics. Photonics offers natural advantages for scale: photons don’t feel heat, are immune to electromagnetic interference, and integrate with existing cryogenic cooling and standard fiber-optic infrastructure. In 2024, PsiQuantum announced government-funded projects to support the build-out of our first utility-scale quantum computers in Brisbane, Australia, and Chicago, Illinois. These initiatives reflect a growing recognition that quantum computing will be strategically and economically defining—and that now is the time to scale. PsiQuantum also develops the algorithms and software needed to make these systems commercially valuable. Our application, software, and industry teams work directly with leading Fortune 500 companies—including Lockheed Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Mitsubishi Chemical—to prepare quantum solutions for real-world impact. Quantum computing is not an extension of classical computing. It represents a fundamental shift—and a path to mastering challenges that cannot be solved any other way. The potential is enormous, and we have a clear path to make it real. Come join us. Job Summary: Quantum architects research and develop architectures for fault tolerant photonic quantum computers, in particular methods for entanglement generation, encoded logic, and error correction. Quantum architects in the simulation team focus on developing and running large-scale simulations to evaluate the performance of such methods and their integration into a full-stack architecture. We are looking for an experienced physicist with a strong collaborative software engineering background to bridge the gap between quantum computing research and scalable software development. This role focuses on modelling the generation of entangled qubit resource states using linear optical networks in our full-stack simulations. Candidates should have knowledge of linear optics, and experience in some of the following areas: linear optical quantum computing, quantum error correction, quantum networks, error modelling, switching / multiplexing networks. The position requires close collaboration with optical architecture and fault-tolerance teams and involves frequent iteration in response to evolving technical requirements.

Requirements

• Degree in Physics, Math, Computer Science, or Electrical Engineering is required.
• 3+ years of collaborative software engineering experience, preferably in an R&D environment.
• Knowledge of quantum information and linear optics is required.
• Extensive experience with Python is required.
• Experience with collaborative software development tools and best practices is required e.g. Gitlab, CICD.
• Proven team player with an ability to collaborate effectively across departments, sites, and time zones.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize and steer projects to completion, and contribute to a fast-moving start-up environment.

Nice To Haves

• A postgraduate degree related to quantum information or technology is preferred.
• Familiarity with linear optical quantum computing, quantum error correction, quantum networks, error modelling, graphical calculus (e.g. ZX calculus), tensor networks are strongly preferred.
• Experience with a lower-level language such as C++ is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with quantum architecture domain experts to understand, implement, and simulate new state-of-the-art methods for the generation of entangled resource states and encoded logic.
• Design, develop, and maintain robust software tools and infrastructure for the simulation of full-stack quantum architectures.
• Profile simulation software and explore and implement more optimal computational techniques.
• Run simulation analyses, manage data, and communicate results.
• Ensure the interoperability of simulation tools and modelling frameworks across projects, teams, and departments.
• Interface with our software team to hand-over software tasks and propose platform and DevOps improvements.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees