Staff Process Engineer, Packaging

IonQ•College Park, MD

11h•Onsite

About The Position

IonQ is seeking a hands-on Process Engineer, Packaging to support its cleanroom production of quantum processing units (QPUs). This role involves approximately 70-80% of time spent in the cleanroom operating, programming, troubleshooting, and improving packaging equipment. The engineer will work directly with technicians and engineers to solve problems, create recipes, train operators, and establish new capabilities. While specific microelectronics packaging experience is valued, the company is looking for an experienced engineer who is eager to learn, takes pride in detailed work, and is committed to team success in hardware delivery. The position can be leveled as Process Engineer or Senior Process Engineer based on experience.

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in an engineering or physical sciences discipline.
1-2 years of professional experience beyond coursework and internships operating complex automated equipment in a production, development, or laboratory environment.
Demonstrated experience diagnosing equipment or process problems, implementing fixes, and verifying results.
A genuine preference for hands-on work with physical hardware at the equipment level.
Ability to quickly learn unfamiliar equipment and processes while working safely and carefully.
Clear communication skills and the ability to train operators with varying technical backgrounds.
Ability to work onsite in College Park five days per week during training and initial ramp-up.
Ability to work for extended periods in full cleanroom gowning.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience programming or troubleshooting wire bonders, die bonders, and/or optical packaging equipment.
Experience in microelectronics, optoelectronics, photonics, RF/microwave hardware, MEMS, aerospace electronics, medical devices, or another precision hardware field.
Experience with packaging processes such as solder reflow, epoxy dispense, plasma cleaning, optical inspection, profilometry/interferometry, electrical test, or UHV-compatible assembly.
Experience selecting equipment, working with vendors, installing and qualifying tools, and releasing recipes for production.
Experience training and qualifying operators and improving a process under schedule pressure.
Strong internal drive: identifying and following through on the next useful action.
Low ego: willingness to perform any task to help the team deliver.
Careful and deliberate execution: slowing down when hardware demands it, protecting fragile parts, and prioritizing repeatability and contamination control.
Team-first behavior: sharing knowledge, responding to technician needs, communicating problems early, and optimizing for build success.

Responsibilities

Provide real-time sustaining engineering support in the cleanroom to ensure QPU builds, technician work, and critical equipment remain on schedule.
Operate, program, troubleshoot, and improve complex packaging equipment, with a focus on wire bonding and die/flip-chip bonding.
Create, validate, release, and maintain equipment recipes and process programs, using data and experimentation to define stable operating windows.
Investigate equipment faults, process excursions, and product failures, identifying root causes, implementing corrective actions, and verifying effectiveness.
Train and qualify operators on packaging equipment and processes, translating practical knowledge into clear work instructions and guidance.
Enhance existing packaging processes to improve yield, throughput, repeatability, uptime, and capability.
Support hands-on prototype and new-product builds from component preparation through assembly, inspection, characterization, and release.
Handle fragile, high-value components with care and maintain excellent cleanroom discipline.
Collaborate with packaging, manufacturing, QPU design, fabrication, quality, test teams, and external suppliers to resolve issues and deliver hardware.