Staff Software Engineer

Summary

Join PsiQuantum's OS Core team and build the operating system for a fault-tolerant quantum computer. Collaborate with engineers and scientists across multiple disciplines to design, implement, and maintain systems software for photonic quantum computing systems. Develop automated system calibration, initialization, and bring-up sequences. Create comprehensive system management tools and implement diagnostic software for fault detection. Optimize system performance and develop commissioning protocols. Contribute to the future of computing in a foundational way. This role requires extensive experience in systems software development for complex hardware and a strong background in relevant programming languages and technologies.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 10+ years of experience developing systems software for complex hardware
• Strong programming skills in C++, Python, or Rust
• Experience with hardware abstraction layer design and implementation
• Knowledge of communication protocols (I²C, SPI, PCIe, etc.)
• Understanding of real-time operating systems and constraints
• Proficiency with automated test frameworks and continuous integration
• Experience with instrumentation control and data acquisition
• Strong debugging and problem-solving abilities
• Familiarity with version control systems and collaborative development workflows
• Knowledge of system diagnostics and performance analysis techniques
• Experience working with hardware-in-the-loop testing or hardware/software co-design
• Proven ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams
• Demonstrated experience with calibration routines for precision instruments
• Track record of successful system commissioning or bring-up projects
• Experience with hardware-software interface design
• Proven ability to work effectively in cross-functional technical teams
• History of implementing robust error handling and system recovery mechanisms

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, optimize, and maintain systems software for photonic quantum computing systems
• Develop automated system and calibration, initialization, and bring-up sequences
• Create comprehensive system management tools for monitoring and control
• Implement diagnostic software for fault detection and isolation
• Design interfaces between hardware subsystems and control software
• Optimize system performance through careful characterization and tuning
• Develop commissioning protocols and verification tests
• Maintain system configuration management and versioning
• Collaborate with hardware and simulation teams to ensure software compatibility

Preferred Qualifications

• Understanding of quantum computing principles and operations
• Experience with RPCs, RESTful APIs, IDLs, data serializations (protobufs, gRPC, JSON, etc.)
• Experience with Apache Airflow or other workflow management platforms
• Experience with internals of bare metal, VM, or container orchestration and management platforms
• Experience writing high performance IO code in Python
• Experience with (semi)-automatically converting / transpiling Python to Rust
• Experience with photonic components and their control requirements
• Familiarity with control theory and feedback systems
• Experience with distributed systems and microservice architectures
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and infrastructure-as-code
• Understanding of signal processing and digital filters
• Experience with GUI development for system control applications
• Familiarity with data visualization techniques for system monitoring
• Experience with optical systems calibration or control
• Background in developing laboratory automation software
• Experience with thermal or environmental control systems
• Experience with high-precision measurement equipment
• Track record of optimizing system performance through software improvements
• Experience designing user interfaces for complex scientific instruments

Benefits

Full time roles are eligible for equity and benefits