Quantum Characterization, Verification, and Validation Engineer

PsiQuantums 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 architectureand approachisbased on silicon photonics. Byleveragingthe 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: photonsdontfeel heat are immune to electromagnetic interference and integrate with existing cryogenic cooling and standard fiber-optic infrastructure.

That approach has since been tested at the highest level of scrutiny the U.S. government applies to emerging technology and it has held 2025PsiQuantumclosed a$1 billionfunding round that valued the company at$7 2026 the U.S. Department of Commerce signed a $100 million Letter of Intent under the CHIPS and Science Act followed by a $125 million agreement with DARPA under Stage C of its Quantum Benchmarking InitiativePsiQuantumsmost valuable U.S. government agreement to date. This year we also broke ground on our utility-scale quantum computer in Brisbane Australia and continued building out our Chicago site. Victor Peng our CEO and co-founder Jeremy OBrien now ExecutiveChairman lead a team and board that reflects how seriously the world is taking this build joined this year by Intels Lip-Bu Tan and Atomicos NiklasZennström.

PsiQuantumalso 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 includingAirbusLockheedMartin Mercedes-Benz Boehringer Ingelheim and Mitsubishi Chemical to prepare quantum solutions for real-world impact.

Quantum computing is not an extension of classical computing. Itrepresentsa fundamental shift and a path to mastering challenges that cannot besolvedany other way. The potential is enormous and we now havethe fundingthe governmentvalidation andthe sitesunder construction to make it real.

Job Summary:

PsiQuantum is seeking a researcher to develop methods for quantum characterization verification and validation (QCVV) of large-scale quantum systems. The successful candidate will work on methods for reliably characterizing quantum channels and system-level behavior in regimes where direct reconstruction is impossible. This includes developing scalable protocols statistical analysis techniques and simulation methods that connect experimental data to actionable conclusions about quantum performance.

Large-scale simulation is an important part of this role particularly in the context of characterizing quantum channels validating QCVV protocols understanding error mechanisms and predicting how characterization methods perform on large systems. Relevant experience may include tensor network methods GPU-accelerated simulation Monte Carlo methods stabilizer simulation and other approaches for modeling large quantum circuits and noisy quantum processes.

PsiQuantums architecture is based on photonic quantum computing. Prior experience with photonic quantum computing is valuable but not required. Candidates should be eager to learn the relevant photonic concepts and apply their QCVV modeling and simulation expertise to a photonic fault-tolerant quantum computing platform.

This is a hands-on technical role in a fast-moving environment. The ideal candidate is comfortable owning research projects end to end working across disciplines communicating uncertainty clearly and translating technical results into decisions that improve system characterization and performance.

Responsibilities:

• Develop scalable QCVV methods for characterizing large quantum systems quantum channels and system-level quantum behavior.
• Develop statistical and numerical methods for extracting meaningful performance information from limited noisy and indirect measurement data.
• Build models that connect observed experimental data to underlying quantum channels error mechanisms and system-level performance metrics.
• Use large-scale quantum circuit simulation to evaluate characterization protocols diagnose failure modes and understand the behavior of noisy quantum channels.
• Apply simulation methods such as tensor networks GPU-accelerated computation stabilizer methods and Monte Carlo techniques where appropriate.
• Work with experimental architecture software and systems teams to compare measured system behavior against theoretical and numerical models.
• Contribute to the definition of diagnostic observables and data analysis pipelines needed for reliable system characterization.
• Document methods assumptions limitations and results clearly.
• Communicate progress challenges uncertainties and conclusions to technical and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Take ownership of research tasks from problem definition through implementation validation analysis and communication.

Experience/Qualifications:

• Ph.D. or equivalent experience in Physics Electrical Engineering Applied Mathematics Computer Science or a related field.
• Experience characterizing or modeling quantum channels noisy quantum circuits quantum processes or quantum error mechanisms.
• Experience developing numerical simulations for quantum systems quantum circuits or noisy quantum processes.
• Programming experience for scientific computing and data analysis preferably in Python.
• Ability to reason quantitatively about uncertainty noise finite statistics model mismatch and scalability.
• Ability to work independently on open-ended technical problems while collaborating effectively with specialists across multiple disciplines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills including the ability to explain technical results assumptions limitations and risks clearly.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with one or more QCVV techniques such as randomized benchmarking gate set tomography cycle benchmarking process tomography shadow tomography Hamiltonian learning or related methods.
• Experience with scalable characterization methods for systems where full state or process reconstruction is not possible.
• Experience with tensor network methods for simulating quantum circuits quantum channels or noisy quantum processes.
• Experience running large-scale simulations on GPUs HPC clusters or distributed computing infrastructure.
• Experience with simulation tools and frameworks such as PyTorch JAX TensorFlow CUDA CuPy NumPy/SciPy ITensor Stim or related tools.
• Familiarity with quantum error correction fault tolerance logical error rates decoder performance Pauli errors erasure errors leakage or correlated noise.
• Experience analyzing data from experimental quantum hardware platforms.
• Experience with photonic quantum computing quantum optics integrated photonics measurement-based quantum computation fusion-based quantum computation or cluster-state models.
• Experience collaborating across theory software and experimental teams.

PsiQuantum provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. PsiQuantum does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race color religion sex (including pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions) gender identity gender expression national origin ancestry citizenship age physical or mental disability military or veteran status marital status domestic partner status sexual orientation genetic information or any other basis protected by applicable laws.

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