Senior Mechanical Engineer, PsiQuantum
Photonic Systems
$170-185k
+ Equity
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
Quantum computer builder
Open for applications
Quantum computer builder
501-1000 employees
Open for applications
$170-185k
+ Equity
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To build and deploy useful, fault tolerant quantum computers.
Role
Who you are
- Strong communication & interpersonal skills across engineering, operations, quality, and supplier teams
- Willingness to support colleagues and external partners to achieve OCS schedule, quality, and build-readiness objectives
- Exercises independent judgement in resolving design, interface, and manufacturability tradeoffs
- Continuous learning mindset with interest in photonics packaging, process development, and production scale-up
- Execution of deliverables against schedule & quality targets in a fast-moving productization environment
- Experience with subcontractor management, supplier technical coordination, and manufacturing partner support
- Master’s Degree or above in Mechanical Engineering, Optomechanical Engineering, Packaging Engineering, or a relevant discipline
- 5 years of experience, with a focus on optomechanical design, optoelectronic packaging, photonics packaging, or precision mechanical systems
What the job involves
- The Senior Mechanical Design Engineer is responsible for designing highly complex optomechanical and optoelectronic packages for the Optical Circuit Switch (OCS) program
- You will work closely with photonics, packaging, process, test, quality, supply chain, and external manufacturing partners to translate OCS architecture and requirements into buildable, manufacturable, and verifiable package designs
- Strong design skills incorporating mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, electronics integration, optical alignment, and precision design principles are a must
- Ownership of OCS package and subassembly designs from prototype through production readiness
- Expertise in Design for Manufacturability, Design for Assembly, and supplier-ready build documentation
- Expertise with GD&T for precision optomechanical interfaces, datums, fixtures, and inspection plans
- Expertise with tolerance analysis methods for optical alignment, mechanical stack-up, FAU attach, and package interfaces
- Generate and maintain OCS process flow documentation, build travelers, and assembly sequence definition
- Conduct DFMEA, PFMEA, CTQ mapping, and risk analysis heat maps for OCS package and process development
- Fixture design & fabrication for alignment, attach, metrology, handling, and production build support
- Test set-up design & fabrication for optical, mechanical, thermal, and process verification activities
- Generate & maintain BOM’s, build standards, material callouts, and configuration-controlled package documentation
- Generate & maintain Specification & Drawing Trees for OCS package, subassembly, fixture, and supplier documentation
- Ability to execute basic structural, thermal, warpage, and tolerance analyses to down-select designs and reduce build risk
- Comfortable with PDM / Arena, ECO discipline, drawing release, supplier documentation packages, and revision control
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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