Staff Design Enablement Engineer, PsiQuantum
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
Quantum computer builder
Be an early applicant
Quantum computer builder
501-1000 employees
Be an early applicant
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To build and deploy useful, fault tolerant quantum computers.
Role
Who you are
- Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering or Electronic Engineering or related experience is preferred
- Minimum 5 years of experience in semiconductor or EDA technologies
- Proven experience executing cross-department complex projects and working with semiconductor leading edge technologies
- Domain knowledge: strong process knowledge; knowledge of design manual development, design rules and DRC creation; expert in setting up a design manual with a focus on new product technology development; prior experience with reliability and qualification test sites development
- Proven team player with an ability to work effectively across departments, sites, time zones
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with an ability to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences
- Strong critical thinking, creative, innovative, analytical, and detail oriented problem-solving skills
- Highly focused, self-motivated and able to work independently with limited direction
- Demonstrated ability to juggle multiple priorities and deliver against a schedule
- Demonstrated interest in quantum computing
- Ability to contribute in a fast-moving start-up environment
What the job involves
- The PsiQuantum Foundry Engineering team develops a silicon photonics (SiPh) technology platform working with our development partners
- The development efforts include the addition of new materials and process modules which meet the requirements of PsiQ’s product development plans for a commercially useful quantum computer
- Unique materials and process modules include a superconducting single photon detector, ultra-low loss waveguides, light scattering mitigation structures (“dark box”) and a non-linear epitaxial metal oxide switch
- The teams’ primary responsibilities are the enablement of new technology or modules and to provide engineering support working with the foundry
- The team helps establishing design rules, design manual, reliability and qualification test vehicles, process assumptions, computational lithography, process tolerances, wafer acceptance criteria, patterning solutions, tool selection, process development for new structures and materials
- Additionally, the team analyzes inline data and generates appropriate engineering line controls
- The Design Enablement Engineer will support the development of new silicon photonic products in a Foundry environment
- The Design Enablement Engineer will work on tape-out enablement, design rule creation, DRC checks, design for reliability, waiver review submissions, tape-outs and Process Design Kit (PDK) revisions
- Own execution of new and updated design rules to existing mask levels for photonics dies
- Serve as a technical interface between PsiQ photonic design and reliability teams and Foundry
- Evaluate interactions between layout, design, technology, and fabrication
- Review and assess DRC waiver requests, performing technical risk assessment and ensuring proper documentation and approvals
- Plan and support execution of engineering samples for system builds
- Support product qualification activities, contributing to debugging and resolution of any fallouts from technology/process issues
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 8 rounds)
Jun 2025
$1bn
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Apr 2025
$0.6m
GRANT
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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