Staff Software Engineer, PsiQuantum
$220-245k
+ Equity
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
Quantum computer builder
Job no longer available
Quantum computer builder
501-1000 employees
Job no longer available
$220-245k
+ 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
- 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with extensive backend and platform design expertise
- Expert proficiency in Python, including asynchronous programming, typing, dependency management, packaging, and performance profiling
- Hands-on experience with modern web frameworks (FastAPI, Flask, Django) and Python-based interface patterns (pydantic models, dependency injection, API schemas)
- Deep familiarity with pipeline design patterns - task orchestration, async workflows, and dataflow systems - built in Python or hybrid stacks
- Strong command of AWS services (EC2, EKS, S3, IAM, CloudWatch, Lambda) and infrastructure automation via Terraform
- Proficiency with databases (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB), schema design, migrations, and query optimization
- Experience designing and maintaining caching and state systems (Redis, Valkey) for scalable backend workloads
- Deep understanding of auth(c/z), secrets management, and service-to-service identity mechanisms
- Strong SDLC discipline - CI/CD (GitLab, GitHub Actions), static analysis, code review automation, and test-driven development
- Experience designing internal APIs, Python client SDKs, and developer-facing tools with strong focus on usability and maintainability
- Working knowledge of frontend integration (React, TypeScript) and REST/gRPC contract management
- Operational familiarity with observability and profiling tools (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, cProfile, py-spy, Perf)
- Ability to design for long-term maintainability - balancing low-level optimization with clean architectural separation and stable interfaces
- Familiarity with HPC environments and Slurm-based job orchestration is preferred
- Experience in scientific computing, simulation, or high-performance data environments is preferred
What the job involves
- We are seeking a Full-Stack Platform Lead to own the design, implementation, and evolution of the backend and web systems that underpin the Quantum Architecture (QA) platform
- This role blends deep software engineering expertise in Python, distributed systems, and web architecture, with the ability to design clean interfaces and build robust, composable infrastructure for scientific and computational workflows
- You’ll work directly with physicists, software engineers, and researchers to turn computational ideas into sustainable, high-value software systems that drive the simulation and exploration of quantum architectures
- Architect and implement the QA platform’s backend services and APIs using modern Python web frameworks (e.g., FastAPI, Flask, Django, or equivalent), ensuring clean interface boundaries and maintainable abstractions
- Design and evolve Python-based pipelines that manage data, computation, and integration with research and simulation systems - focusing on reliability, composability, and debuggability
- Develop modular service interfaces for data access, configuration, and workflow orchestration, ensuring alignment between backend systems and frontend or computational clients
- Establish infrastructure-as-code foundations using Terraform, managing multi-environment deployments and scaling across AWS services (EC2, S3, EKS, IAM, CloudWatch, etc.)
- Own schema design, indexing strategies, and performance optimization for database backends (e.g., Postgres, MySQL, and MongoDB)
- Implement distributed caching, task orchestration, and stateful compute components using Redis or Valkey to support low-latency data and job pipelines
- Integrate and manage authentication and authorization layers (OAuth2, OIDC, SSO, IAM roles), ensuring secure, policy-driven service interactions
- Define and enforce rigorous SDLC and engineering hygiene - type-checked Python (e.g., mypy, pydantic), comprehensive testing, CI/CD pipelines, and reproducible environments
- Develop internal developer tooling and interfaces (CLI utilities, REST/gRPC endpoints, Python client libraries) to enable high-velocity platform development
- Lead API versioning, schema evolution, and documentation standards across backend systems
- Design, implement, and maintain both backend and frontend components of the QA platform - owning the full stack from UI to Python APIs and data layers, ensuring clean, well-specified, and performant interfaces across the system
- Implement observability frameworks - structured logging, metrics, and distributed tracing - to ensure operational insight and performance analysis across services
- Mentor engineers in platform design, Python performance optimization, and large-scale system composition
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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