Next Frontier Quantum Associate

EY; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

Comprehensive benefits package

Wellness incentives

Job summary

EY is seeking a Quantum Associate in Melbourne, Australia, to work on Quantum Technology initiatives focusing on quantum safety and quantum compute. The ideal candidate should have a strong background in quantum computing principles, post-quantum cryptography, and proficient programming skills particularly in Python. Comprehensive benefits include wellness incentives and flexible arrangements for work-life balance, alongside a competitive salary, negotiable based on experience and skills.

Qualifications

• Foundational understanding of quantum computing principles and error mitigation.
• 2-3+ years experience in post-quantum cryptographic implementations or quantum algorithm development.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support development in quantum cybersecurity and quantum computing.
• Contribute to the organization's post-quantum cryptography readiness.
• Develop and evaluate quantum algorithms and workflows.

Skills

Quantum computing principles

Post-quantum cryptography

Python programming

Quantum SDKs (e.g., Qiskit, Cirq)

Analytical thinking

Version control (Git)

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Physics, Computer Science, or related field

Tools

Docker

CI/CD workflows

Job description

Overview

EY’s Applied Innovation Next Frontier focuses on emerging technologies, including Physical AI, Quantum Computing, and Next‑Generation AI. The initiative translates advanced capabilities into measurable outcomes to help clients and EY teams improve decision‑making, strengthen resilience, and unlock new opportunities through technology‑driven solutions.

The Quantum team operates under the delivery of regional quantum labs and supports business‑driven initiatives. The focus is on practical quantum technologies and frameworks that deliver measurable, enterprise‑value benefits. The team is led by Kartheek Solipuram and reports to Dr. Rodrigo Madanes.

Position Summary

The Quantum Associate will work on Quantum Technology initiatives, requiring background, knowledge, and practical experience with the usability and impact of quantum technologies. The role allocates 60‑70% focus on quantum safety and 30% on quantum compute.

Essential Responsibilities

• Build & commercialize: Lead and support development, demos, and presentations of solutions in both quantum cybersecurity and quantum computing domains.
• Quantum safety: Contribute to the organization’s PQC (post‑quantum cryptography) readiness, including risk assessments, migration planning, and crypto‑agility improvements.
• Quantum compute: Develop and evaluate quantum algorithms and workflows for optimization, machine learning, and simulation use cases.
• Software development & implementation: Build software kits and tools, design and implement architectures, benchmark performance, and employ best practices in software engineering.
• Thought leadership: Produce clear leadership and sector presentations, assessment reports, standards, and executive‑level documents.
• Teaming: Collaborate with cross‑functional teams including security engineering, ML/AI groups, platform teams, and product stakeholders.

Quantum Specialist Responsibilities

• Quantum Cyber:
  • Assess quantum‑related risks (e.g., harvest‑now‑decrypt‑later exposure) and contribute to mitigation roadmaps.
  • Prototype and benchmark PQC algorithms (e.g., ML‑KEM/Kyber, ML‑DSA/Dilithium) within services and applications.
  • Maintain an index of how current and upcoming algorithms fare in fully PQ‑safe and hybrid versions against operational impacts to recommend migration roadmaps.
  • Support development of crypto‑inventory tools to detect legacy cryptography dependencies.
  • Implement and test hybrid key‑exchange schemes and measure performance impacts (latency, throughput, resource usage).
  • Assist with design and validation of crypto‑agility patterns, certificate lifecycle updates, and key‑management transitions.
  • Contribute to internal PQC migration guides, standards, and runbooks.
• Quantum Compute & Algorithms:
  • Develop accelerators using NISQ‑appropriate quantum algorithms (VQE, QAOA, QML) and industry SDKs for use cases.
  • Run extensive testing and validation exercises to estimate viability, usage, and support roadmapping of quantum utility for use cases.
  • Build end‑to‑end prototypes for domain‑specific use cases such as optimization, simulations, modeling of Quantum as well as next frontier of Quantum & AI/ML tech.
  • Perform resource estimation (qubit count, gate depth, circuit complexity) and evaluate classical‑quantum tradeoffs.
  • Maintain reproducible experimentation pipelines using Python, Jupyter, containerization, and CI workflows.

Knowledge and Skills Requirements

• Foundational understanding of quantum computing principles, qubits, gates, NISQ constraints, and error mitigation.
• Working knowledge of post‑quantum cryptography, including KEMs, signature schemes, and cryptographic standards.
• Familiarity with PKI, TLS 1.3, certificate management, and key‑exchange mechanisms.
• Proficiency with one or more quantum SDKs: Qiskit, Cirq, PennyLane, AWS Braket, Azure Quantum/QDK.
• Strong Python programming capabilities, including numerical libraries (NumPy, SciPy, pandas).
• Understanding of classical optimization, linear algebra, and probabilistic reasoning.
• Experience with version control (Git), containers (Docker), and CI/CD workflows. Languages: Python, C++, Rust, or equivalent.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to distill complex concepts for different audiences.
• Analytical thinking and a structured, hypothesis‑driven approach to problem solving.

Education & Experience

• Bachelors or Masters in Physics, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, EE, Applied Math, or related field; or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• 2-3+ years of hands‑on experience in at least one of the following areas:
  • Post‑quantum cryptographic implementations.
  • Applied cryptography or security engineering.
  • Quantum algorithm development.
• Experience in quantum technologies, cryptography, or related computational fields is a plus.
• Publications, preprints, hackathon projects, or open‑source contributions in quantum or applied security are highly desirable but not required.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity fundamentals (public‑key crypto, KEMs/signatures, TLS, PKI concepts).
• Understanding of post‑quantum cryptography basics and current standardization landscape.
• Experience with at least one quantum SDK (e.g., Qiskit, PennyLane, or Azure Quantum QDK).
• Ability to design small experiments, analyze results, and write clear technical documentation.

Benefits

Career development opportunities and future‑focused skill development. Flexible work arrangements to balance professional and personal life. Comprehensive benefits package including wellness incentives, additional flexible leave, and family‑friendly policies such as gender‑neutral paid parental leave. Competitive salary open to negotiation pending on skills and experience.