Staff Engineer Firmware

IonQ•Pleasanton, CA

7h•Onsite

About The Position

As a Technical Lead for Real-Time Control Systems, you will provide the architectural vision and technical leadership necessary to build next-generation quantum instruments. You will be responsible for designing complex embedded systems on ARM SoC and ST Micro platforms, developing robust data acquisition pipelines, and implementing the control algorithms that drive precision sensing technology. This role sits at the intersection of hardware and software, requiring you to bridge the gap between physicists, electronics engineers, and firmware teams. Beyond writing production-quality code, you will serve as a mentor and strategist, driving coding standards, hardware bring-up strategies, and the continuous improvement of development infrastructure to ensure the scalability of quantum control frameworks.

Requirements

BS/MS in EE, CE, or CS with 8–12 years of experience, or a PhD with 8+ years of related work experience.
To comply with the US export control laws, Vector Atomic employees must be U.S. citizens (born or naturalized), lawful U.S. permanent residents (i.e. green card holders), and certain categories of refugees, and asylees.
Demonstrated mastery of complex embedded system architecture and designing software systems from the ground up.
Deep understanding of hardware-software interfaces (TCP, UART, MMAP) and low-level system programming.
Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills using profilers, debuggers, and simulation tools.
Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and influence engineering decisions across multi-disciplinary teams.
Excellent verbal and written skills for articulating complex concepts to diverse audiences.
Must be comfortable working in a laboratory setting.

Nice To Haves

Extensive experience developing production Rust systems, including async runtimes, concurrency patterns, and performance optimization.
Experience with embedded Linux alongside a strong understanding of C/C++ systems programming.
Expert-level knowledge of PID, state-space controllers, and adaptive control algorithms.
Experience with fixed-point algorithms, digital signal processing (DSP), and digital filter design.
Strong background working with SoC/FPGA devices and Linux kernel/device driver development.
Proficiency in Python for scientific libraries and developer tool creation.
Hands-on experience using oscilloscopes, function generators, and voltmeters to verify code performance.
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks tailored for hardware/firmware.

Responsibilities

Provide architectural direction for real-time control systems and lead technical discussions across hardware and firmware teams.
Design system controllers on ARM SoC, including user-space drivers, libraries, and reusable frameworks for quantum system control.
Write high-performance, production-quality code in C/C++ and Rust, establishing team-wide best practices and coding standards.
Define and implement essential control algorithms, including robust control loops with reliable error handling for precision instruments.
Lead board testing and hardware bring-up strategies in coordination with hardware engineers.
Guide junior and senior engineers through code reviews, pair programming, and proactive technical coaching.
Drive the evolution of development processes, tooling, and infrastructure, including CI/CD and automated testing.
Act as the primary technical voice for the team during cross-functional reviews and strategic planning sessions.