Senior Engineer, System Calibration (Electro-Optics)

PsiQuantum•Milpitas, CA

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. At PsiQuantum, we are developing and testing prototype modules that will scale into a datacenter-sized, fault-tolerant quantum computer. These modules and subsystems require regular calibration to ensure reliable generation of single photons and entangled states that underpin our quantum computing architecture. This role focuses on developing system-level calibration strategies for electro-optic components and subsystems, working across hardware, firmware, and software boundaries to ensure performance, reliability, and scalability.

Requirements

M.S. with 5+ years of industry experience or Ph.D. with 3+ years of industry experience in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related discipline
Experience developing and integrating complex systems spanning optical and electronic hardware, firmware, software, and data acquisition, including cross-functional collaboration
Hands-on experience designing, characterizing, or calibrating electro-optic devices and systems
Experience developing and integrating complex systems across optical/electronic hardware, firmware, and software, including cross-functional collaboration
Proven ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear requirements, models, or system frameworks

Nice To Haves

Experience with integrated photonics, RF systems, or high-speed optical switching
Experience developing or scaling calibration procedures in complex experimental or production systems where scale and high reliability matter
Experience with system-level modeling, uptime analysis, or performance optimization
Track record of leading cross-functional technical efforts or driving alignment across teams
Experience documenting system architectures, experimental processes, or hardware designs in a structured and scalable way
Demonstrated interest in quantum computing or related advanced technologies

Responsibilities

Consolidate and structure all calibration and operational information for our components and sub-assemblies involving electro-optic devices
Lead system-level calibration risk analysis and mitigation planning across hardware, firmware, and software interfaces
Develop requirements for hardware, firmware, and software teams to meet uptime and performance targets
Own and optimize calibration strategy against uptime requirements
Develop modeling and analytical tools to understand how component-level electro-optic calibrations behave and interact when integrated into the full system
Track calibration time estimates and actuals to model our system’s uptime and identify areas requiring optimization
Conduct prototyping of calibrations on benchtop setups
Specify test requirements to validate and de-risk calibrations at various levels of integration testing
Write control software to implement calibration procedures in our software stack
Lead ad-hoc cross-functional working groups to collaboratively develop and refine high-risk calibrations
Partner with other system calibration engineers and software engineering teams to integrate calibrations into executable routines
Lead system-level validation support by providing system-level context, debugging support, and root-cause analysis during prototyping and integration