Staff Firmware Engineer, IonQ
$163.4-214k
+ Bonus and equity
More information about location
Office located in Pleasanton, CA
Quantum computing platform
Open for applications
Quantum computing platform
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$163.4-214k
+ Bonus and equity
More information about location
Office located in Pleasanton, CA
1001+ employees
Company mission
To build the world’s best quantum computers to solve the world’s most complex problems, transforming business, society, and the planet for the better.
Role
Who you are
- BS/MS in EE, CE, or CS with 8–12 years of experience, or a PhD with 8+ years of related work experience
- Embedded Expertise: Demonstrated mastery of complex embedded system architecture and designing software systems from the ground up
- Systems Programming: Deep understanding of hardware-software interfaces (TCP, UART, MMAP) and low-level system programming
- Technical Problem Solving: Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills using profilers, debuggers, and simulation tools
- Leadership: Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and influence engineering decisions across multi-disciplinary teams
- Communication: Excellent verbal and written skills for articulating complex concepts to diverse audiences
- Environment: Must be comfortable working in a laboratory setting
What the job involves
- As a Technical Lead for Real-Time Control Systems, you will provide the architectural vision and technical leadership necessary to build next-generation quantum instruments
- You will be responsible for designing complex embedded systems on ARM SoC and ST Micro platforms, developing robust data acquisition pipelines, and implementing the control algorithms that drive precision sensing technology
- This role sits at the intersection of hardware and software, requiring you to bridge the gap between physicists, electronics engineers, and firmware teams
- Beyond writing production-quality code, you will serve as a mentor and strategist, driving coding standards, hardware bring-up strategies, and the continuous improvement of development infrastructure to ensure the scalability of quantum control frameworks
- Technical Leadership: Provide architectural direction for real-time control systems and lead technical discussions across hardware and firmware teams
- System Architecture: Design system controllers on ARM SoC, including user-space drivers, libraries, and reusable frameworks for quantum system control
- Software Development: Write high-performance, production-quality code in C/C++ and Rust, establishing team-wide best practices and coding standards
- Control Theory & Implementation: Define and implement essential control algorithms, including robust control loops with reliable error handling for precision instruments
- Hardware Collaboration: Lead board testing and hardware bring-up strategies in coordination with hardware engineers
- Mentorship: Guide junior and senior engineers through code reviews, pair programming, and proactive technical coaching
- Process Improvement: Drive the evolution of development processes, tooling, and infrastructure, including CI/CD and automated testing
- Strategic Representation: Act as the primary technical voice for the team during cross-functional reviews and strategic planning sessions
Our take
IonQ is a quantum computing company; its current quantum computer, the IonQ Quantum Cloud, is accessible through the cloud. An offshoot of the co-founder's 25 years of academic research in quantum information sciences, IonQ hopes to build the world's best quantum computers that can solve complex problems at a much faster rate than traditional computers.
Over the past few years, IonQ has partnered with several major technology companies, including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Google, to make its quantum computers more widely available. Most recently, it partnered with General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) to bring quantum solutions to government and defence sectors across the US.
IonQ has also acquired Entangled Networks to bolster its product offerings and has merged with a special purpose acquisition company to become a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "IONQ". The merger brought in substantial gross earnings that IonQ plans to utilise to accelerate its technology development and commercialisation efforts.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
60% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Jun 2020
$7m
SERIES B
Oct 2019
$55m
SERIES B
Total funding: $82m
Company HQ
College Park, MD
Leadership
Peter Chapman
(President & CEO)Previously the Director of Engineering for Amazon Prime, and the President and CEO of Media Arc and eMusic.
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