Technical Programme Manager, Quantum Benchmarking

IonQ•College Park, MD

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

IonQ is building quantum computers that will reach utility scale, and the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative run by DARPA is one of the most demanding independent tests of that ambition. Through the initiative, teams of government experts verify and validate successive generations of our systems, and contractual milestones depend on IonQ demonstrating clear, credible progress against an agreed plan. This role sits in our Architecture team in College Park, Maryland, and is the connection between internal quantum computer development at IonQ and the initiative. You will turn internal engineering plans into a single schedule that a technically sophisticated customer can trust, and you will manage the deliverables, reviews and site visits that come with it. It suits someone who understands the physics well enough to hold their own with national laboratory experts, and who has also learned the programmatics that keep a government contract on track.

Requirements

A strong grounding in quantum technology, ideally atomic, molecular and optical physics.
Around five years of experience in a broader technical role where you worked close to the hardware.
Experience as a technical program manager, project engineer or systems engineer.
Experience leading across a matrixed organisation without direct authority.
Experience keeping complex schedules and deliverables under control.
A PhD in physics or equivalent practical experience.
Ability to obtain a US security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience with trapped ion or other qubit technologies.
Systems engineering experience on defence or government contracts.
Experience working with government test and evaluation teams or national laboratories.
Experience building integrated master schedules for government customers.
An active US security clearance.

Responsibilities

Integrate the schedules of several internal quantum computer development efforts into one master schedule that shows our path to fault tolerant, utility scale quantum computing, and present it to government customers and their technical experts.
Track risk burndown across those efforts and forecast it honestly, so that anything threatening a contractual milestone is surfaced and mitigated early rather than discovered late.
Own the external deliverables, including architecture documentation, verification and validation documentation, and the commissioning and delivery of systems into government laboratories.
Negotiate the structure, quality and content of deliverables with government evaluators, balancing internal engineering milestones against verification activity, and organising customer site visits and status reviews with the right internal experts in the room.
Work with ambiguity on analysis that looks ahead to architectures beyond the systems in build today.
Build and maintain a government quality integrated master schedule across internal development efforts.
Track, forecast and report risk to upcoming contractual milestones.
Manage architecture, verification and validation deliverables with government evaluation teams.
Plan the commissioning and delivery of quantum computers to customer sites.
Organise customer site visits, technical reviews and status reporting.