Staff Hardware Design Engineer

PsiQuantum • Palo Alto, CA

10h

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:
The mission of PsiQuantum's Staff Hardware Design Engineer role is to support the Electronics team by owning hardware designs integral to the underlying system of the quantum computer. This engineer will collaborate in cross-functional teams of thermal, mechanical, firmware, optical engineers. The designs will meet the requirements of the overall system architecture and physical framework of the quantum computer.

Requirements

• 7 years of experience with a Master Degree.
• 9-12 years of experience with a B.S. Degree.
• Results oriented.
• Delivers on commitments.
• Attention to detail.
• Data-driven in decision-making.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Proven team player with an ability to work effectively across departments, sites, time zones in direct and matrix team environments.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with an ability to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences ranging from senior leadership and technical experts to entry-level staff.

Responsibilities

• Define, Design and deliver production ready high-speed embedded hardware systems.
• Design, create schematics, and oversee PCB layout of analog and digital circuitry consisting of but not limited to high-speed transceivers, 10+ Gbps electrical and optical data links, FPGA's, microcontrollers, clock distribution, and power distribution.
• Ensure signal integrity and EMI suppression is accounted for in all designs.
• Design and create test set-ups for testing of electro-optic modules.
• Characterize, optimize, and debug analog, digital, and electro-optic circuitry using equipment such as mixed signal & sampling oscilloscopes, vector network analyzers, signal generators, multimeters, DC power supplies.
• Develop software to drive measurements.
• Analyze data and extract key performance parameters.
• Maintain detailed documentation of hardware designs, test results, and design changes.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level