Senior Digital System Architect

PsiQuantum’s mission is to build the first useful quantum computers—machines capable of delivering the breakthroughs the field has long promised. Since our founding in 2016, our singular focus has been to build and deploy million-qubit, fault-tolerant quantum systems. 

Quantum computers harness the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that even the most advanced supercomputers or AI systems will never reach. Their impact will span energy, pharmaceuticals, finance, agriculture, transportation, materials, and other foundational industries. 

Our architecture and approach is based on silicon photonics. By leveraging the advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry—including partners like GlobalFoundries—we use the same high-volume processes that already produce billions of chips for telecom and consumer electronics. Photonics offers natural advantages for scale: photons don’t feel heat, are immune to electromagnetic interference, and integrate with existing cryogenic cooling and standard fiber-optic infrastructure. 

In 2024, PsiQuantum announced government-funded projects to support the build-out of our first utility-scale quantum computers in Brisbane, Australia, and Chicago, Illinois. These initiatives reflect a growing recognition that quantum computing will be strategically and economically defining—and that now is the time to scale. 

PsiQuantum also develops the algorithms and software needed to make these systems commercially valuable. Our application, software, and industry teams work directly with leading Fortune 500 companies—including Lockheed Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Mitsubishi Chemical—to prepare quantum solutions for real-world impact. 

Quantum computing is not an extension of classical computing. It represents a fundamental shift—and a path to mastering challenges that cannot be solved any other way. The potential is enormous, and we have a clear path to make it real. 

Come join us. 

Job Summary:

We are looking for an engineer or scientist to join the System Architecture team and own the design and implementation of real-time synchronous control systems for a photonic quantum computer. Working closely with physicists and engineers across different teams, you will turn experimental goals and evolving user needs into a coherent digital system architecture and carry it through modeling, implementation, and verification.

Much of the work is determining how the system should behave: reconciling loosely defined needs, resolving open questions, and using models and simulations to evaluate design choices.

We welcome experimental physicists with programming and instrumentation experience, as well as engineers who have developed hardware and software for scientific or other complex technical projects. We are looking for motivated candidates who bring strong scientific programming skills, experience investigating novel problems, and a demonstrated interest in digital hardware.

Responsibilities:

• Work with physicists to turn experimental goals and user needs into a coherent control architecture and functional requirements, resolving open questions and testing assumptions.
• Design real-time control algorithms and evaluate tradeoffs among algorithmic performance, latency, throughput, and hardware resources.
• Build cycle-accurate Python models of the control system that serve as the reference for verifying the RTL implementations.
• Use simulations to explore design tradeoffs, and support system-level tests that co-simulate classical controls and linear-optical components.
• Implement RTL IP cores in SystemVerilog and verify agreement with the Python models.
• Write comprehensive Python tests for control models and RTL IP cores, using Cocotb (and Verilator) for RTL simulation, to verify behavior against requirements and investigate discrepancies.
• Document system behavior, assumptions, design decisions, and IP interfaces for collaboration across teams.

Experience/Qualifications:

• A background in experimental physics, quantum computing, electrical or computer engineering, with experience owning open-ended scientific or technical projects from investigation through implementation and validation.
• Typically around five years of professional experience in demanding technical work, or a PhD or postdoc involving substantial hands-on hardware work.
• Experience with Verilog or VHDL. The expected depth depends on background:
  • Experimental physicists: hands-on FPGA work in the lab and a genuine interest in digital design can suffice.
  • Engineers: experience owning the design of a digital system, from defining its architecture and requirements through implementation (e.g., designing a data acquisition or control system), rather than implementing to an existing specification.
• Strong Python programming skills and a commitment to clear, maintainable code.
• A strong interest in understanding the physical system being controlled and using that understanding to inform design decisions.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills: able to work effectively with physicists and engineers across teams and time zones, and to clearly explain requirements, design decisions, and supporting evidence.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with distributed real-time systems requiring precise synchronization and deterministic low-latency data links, e.g., multi-FPGA platforms, DAQ or trigger systems, or timing distribution networks.
• Experience with digital designs under demanding clock-frequency and latency constraints.
• Experience developing instrumentation or controls for R&D or scientific experiments.
• Experience with FPGA tooling (AMD/Xilinx preferred).
• Experience with Python for verification (Cocotb).
• Knowledge of linear optics or quantum computing.
• Experience using Git in multi-developer projects.

The role is on-site or hybrid in our Palo Alto or Milpitas offices; for exceptional candidates remote roles can be accommodated.

Note: PsiQuantum will only reach out to you using an official PsiQuantum email address and will never ask you for bank account information as part of the interview process. Please report any suspicious activity to recruiting@psiquantum.com.

We are not accepting unsolicited resumes from employment agencies.

 

Base pay is one part of the total compensation package. Full-time roles are eligible for equity and benefits. Our compensation ranges reflect the cost of labor across multiple U.S. geographic markets, and we pay based on defined geographic zones. This position may be filled within one of the following U.S. geographic zones, each with its own salary range.

Actual compensation may vary outside of these ranges and is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, a candidate's qualifications, relevant education and training, competencies, experience, geographic location, business needs, and internal equity. Your recruiter can share more details about the salary range applicable to your location during the hiring process.  

• Zone 1 - Bay Area and NYC 

• Zone 2 - Examples include Los Angeles and Washington DC 

• Zone 3 - Examples include Austin, Chicago, and Sacramento 

• Zone 4 - Examples include Nashville and Phoenix/Tempe and many remote locations 

This position includes the following benefits: competitive health coverage for you and your dependents, 401(k) with company match, equity grants, access to financial wellness tools and planning resources, wellness benefits, family support programs, life and disability insurance, paid leave programs, company-designated paid holidays, discretionary time off (DTO), and an end-of-year company shutdown. Some of these benefits have eligibility requirements and may vary based on location, role, or employment status. Many of these benefits are subsidized or fully paid for by the company. 

The estimated annual base salary range for this role is: 

Zone 1$176,500—$207,400 USDZone 2$158,900—$186,700 USDZone 3$141,200—$165,900 USDZone 4$123,600—$145,200 USD