Senior Backend Software Engineer, PsiQuantum
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
Quantum computer builder
Job no longer available
Quantum computer builder
501-1000 employees
Job no longer available
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To build and deploy useful, fault tolerant quantum computers.
Role
Who you are
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
- 8+ years of experience in writing and maintaining production software with a bachelors degree or 5+ years of experience with a masters
- Proven experience building production-grade backend services and APIs, ideally in a high-performance or data-intensive context
- Strong proficiency in at least one backend programming language (e.g., Python, Go, C++), with a solid understanding of RESTful or microservices architectures
- Hands-on background in containerization and orchestration (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), including deployment strategies and load balancing
- Experience with job schedulers (e.g., Slurm, LSF, or PBS) or distributed computing frameworks on HPC clusters or cloud-based systems is highly valuable
- Familiarity with workflow orchestration tools such as Prefect, Airflow, or similar
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to translate complex technical requirements into practical backend solutions
Desirable
- Knowledge of DevOps and CI/CD pipelines, plus experience with infrastructure-as-code tools (e.g., Terraform, AWS CDK)
- Exposure to cloud data services (e.g., AWS Glue, Databricks, Snowflake) or event-driven architectures (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
- Performance tuning expertise for GPU-accelerated or HPC-based workloads, including observability solutions (e.g., Grafana, Prometheus)
- Experience in an R&D environment, where research and engineering intersect to develop innovative solutions at scale
What the job involves
- PsiQuantum’s Quantum Applications Software Team is dedicated to creating a software environment where quantum application developers can discover, build, utilize, optimize, and visualize large-scale quantum algorithms for classically intractable problems
- As we continue to scale, we’re building out a QA function that bridges classical software QA best practices with cutting-edge quantum software development
- We are seeking a Senior Backend Software Engineer to design, build, and maintain automated services and workflows supporting critical, data-intensive applications in high-performance environments
- In this hands-on role, you will collaborate with cross-functional teams—combining software engineering rigor with scientific or computational insights—to create robust backend systems
- You’ll ensure these platforms operate efficiently, scale seamlessly, and provide consistent performance for demanding workloads
- Develop and own essential backend services and APIs, facilitating smooth end-to-end workflows for scientific or computational processes
- Implement scalable job orchestration, coordinating tasks across HPC clusters, GPU resources, or other distributed systems
- Optimize system performance, leveraging monitoring and automation tools to identify bottlenecks and streamline critical workflows
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams (e.g., Data Engineering, QA, Product) to drive a cohesive architecture aligned with compliance, scalability, and availability targets
- Design and maintain backend architectures that integrate with various data pipelines, APIs, and HPC workflows
- Implement workflow engines and scheduling frameworks (e.g., Airflow, Prefect) to automate and monitor multi-step processes at scale
- Ensure reliability and high availability, troubleshooting complex issues across distributed systems, containers, and orchestration platforms
- Collaborate with domain experts to incorporate specialized computational methods or libraries, adapting services to demanding scientific or technical workloads
- Document and streamline processes, maintaining clear and reproducible code for cross-team collaboration and long-term sustainability
- Contribute to continuous improvement by championing best practices for DevOps, performance tuning, and system observability
Our take
Quantum computing will change the world more than any other imminent technological development, and PsiQuantum sits at the forefront of the charge to build the first quantum computer that will actually work.
The company is unique for the scale of their ambitions. Rather than focusing on what they term “intermediate milestones” like building smaller proof of concept systems, PsiQuantum builds the first large-scale, error-corrected computer, using photonics to deliver over 1,000,000 qubits (current quantum machines have yet to cross the 1,000 qubit mark).
There are plenty of companies building quantum computers, including the likes of IBM and Google, but these prototypical machines lack the size to correct errors, making them exponentially less useful than what PsiQuantum aims for. While other companies operate in the same sphere, PsiQuantum is unequivocally a leader in its field, founded by world-class academics and recently securing $1B in funding, making it the largest funding round for a quantum computing startup.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
16% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Jun 2025
$1bn
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Jun 2024
$125m
CONVERTIBLE
Total funding: $2.7bn
Company benefits
- Financial & Retirement: 401(k) with company match, equity grants, and access to financial wellness tools and planning resources.
- Health: Competitive health coverage for you and your dependents that go beyond your standard medical, dental & vision.
- Wellness: $200 quarterly health reimbursement, 12 therapy + 6 coaching sessions with Modern Health for you and depndents, and annual membership to Care.com.
- Time Off: Discretionary Time Off (DTO) for full-time employees in addition to federal holidays and an end-of-year company shut-down.
- Family Leave: 12 weeks of paid parental leave with the support of a dedicated leave consultant.
- Flexible WOrk: Work in office, hybrid, or remote depending on your team and location.
Company HQ
Palo Alto, CA
Leadership
Jeremy O'Brien
(Co-Founder & CEO)Prior to founding PsiQuantum, researched and taught at universities across the world, including Bristol, Stanford, Osaka, Sydney and Queensland.
Mark Thompson
(Co-Founder & Chief Technologist)Previously worked as an R&D Engineer at Toshiba and was a research fellow at the University of Cambridge. Is currently a Professor of Quantum Photonics at Bristol University as well as Chief Technologist at PsiQuantum.
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