Software Engineer, Compiler Services

Silicon Quantum Computing Pty Ltd; Sydney; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Silicon Quantum Computing Pty Ltd in Sydney is hiring software engineers to build the compiler for our quantum computers. You will own stages from logical circuits through to physical placement and routing, shaping the pipeline end-to-end and collaborating with quantum information scientists.

You will develop optimisation passes to reduce gate count, depth and error rates while aligning with our ISA and hardware evolution. This role focuses on practical, scalable compiler design for real devices.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in software engineering with production work on a compiler, solver, optimiser or comparable transformation system.
• Strong CS fundamentals: algorithms, data structures, complexity and heuristics.
• Experience with proof of transformation correctness via checks or testing.

Responsibilities

• Build and own stages of the compilation pipeline from logical to physical placement and routing.
• Implement optimisation passes that reduce gates, depth and improve error rates.
• Target the SQC ISA and keep the compiler aligned with hardware evolution.
• Address placement and routing across wafers and chiplets under constraints.
• Implement lattice surgery, bi-layer and future error correction schemes with QEC team.
• Turn noise models and calibration data into compilable outputs for devices.
• Develop a transpiler path from OpenQASM to pulse-level commands for current devices.
• Verify transformations via equivalence checking and differential testing.
• Benchmark compiler outputs across fidelity, depth and runtime.
• Collaborate with Control & Error Correction on contract between compiler and control plane.
• Design IRs and passes to enable future extensions by other engineers.
• Translate research results into implementable designs and push back if hardware can’t support.

Skills

Compiler design

Rust/C++

Python

Graph algorithms

CI/CD

Technical writing

Tools

LLVM

MLIR

TKET

Qiskit

Cirq

Job description

Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) is at the forefront of global efforts to build the world’s first commercial-scale quantum computer, while delivering quantum-enhanced AI and simulation products to customers today. Backed by over 25 years of technological excellence, SQC is a full-stack quantum computing company that leverages its proprietary manufacturing process to engineer atomic qubits in silicon with 0.13 nanometer precision. It is the most precise semiconductor manufacturing in the world, enabling systems with world-leading algorithmic fidelity, and a decisive advantage in the global quantum computing race. Our products are commercially deployed and generating revenue. Watermelon, our quantum-enhanced AI system, is delivering superior results on real-world problems across energy, telecom and finance. Quantum Twins, our simulation platform, provides unparalleled ability to model quantum systems, accelerating molecule and materials discovery. This is SQC: building the future of computing while delivering quantum impact today.

About The Role

We are hiring software engineers into Compiler Services, the team that builds the compiler for our quantum computers. OpenQASM comes in. SQC ISA instructions come out, as an executable program for the realtime control system. Placement and routing across the mK wafer is NP-hard, with a connectivity map the physics dictates. The objective is fidelity and time budget together rather than gate count. Fault tolerance changes the compilation model rather than adding a pass, so lattice surgery and bi-layer schemes are implemented here with the QEC theory team. Calibration duty cycles and noise models are compiler inputs. The team is growing around one deeply integrated system, so there is room to own a stage: logical compilation, optimisation, transpilation, or place and route. Specifications often arrive as a paper rather than a ticket, and Automated Calibration Services publishes the device state you compile against. Based at our Sydney facility, you will work with quantum information scientists, the QEC theory team and the engineers who build the control plane. This is a role for someone who wants to own a compiler stage end to end, and who is comfortable when the specification arrives as a paper.

Role Responsibilities

• Build and own stages of the compilation pipeline, from logical circuit compilation through to physical placement and routing
• Implement optimisation passes that matter on real hardware: gate reduction, depth minimisation and error rate improvement
• Target the SQC instruction set architecture, and keep the compiler in step as the ISA and the control plane evolve
• Solve placement and routing across wafers and chiplets under connectivity, timing and fidelity constraints
• Implement lattice surgery, bi-layer and future error correction schemes with the QEC theory team
• Take noise models and calibration duty cycles as inputs to compilation, so the output suits the device it will run on
• Build the transpiler path that takes OpenQASM down to pulse-level instructions for today's sub-200 qubit devices
• Verify correctness of every transformation: equivalence checking, differential testing against reference implementations, and simulation
• Benchmark compiler output across fidelity, depth, runtime and compile time, rather than reporting the single metric that favours a given pass
• Work with Control & Error Correction on the executable contract between compiler and control plane
• Design the intermediate representations and document them, along with the passes that operate on them, so the next engineer can extend the pipeline
• Turn research results into implementable designs, and push back when a requirement and the hardware cannot both be satisfied

Your experience

• 4+ years in software engineering, with production work on a compiler, solver, optimiser or comparable transformation system
• Strong computer science fundamentals: algorithms, data structures, complexity, and heuristics for problems where the exact answer is out of reach
• Graph algorithms, and the judgement to pick an approximation that holds up under the constraint that matters
• A performance-oriented language, such as Rust or C++, and Python
• Compiler construction in practice: intermediate representations, passes, rewriting, dataflow analysis
• Proving a transformation correct in the ways that are available: equivalence checking, property-based testing, differential testing against a reference
• The circuit model of quantum computation, including gates, measurement and what a circuit costs on real hardware (no physics degree required)
• Working from research literature, and holding a technical conversation with a quantum information scientist about what a requirement means
• Measuring compiler output rather than reasoning about it
• Git workflow, code review, CI, and tests you trust on a codebase several people change daily
• Clear technical writing

Nice to have

• Quantum error correction: surface codes, lattice surgery, magic state distillation, or decoder design
• Transpiler or compiler internals in Qiskit, TKET, Cirq or a comparable framework
• Solver experience: SAT, SMT, ILP, constraint programming, or writing your own search
• Place and route, EDA tooling, or hardware synthesis flows
• LLVM, MLIR, or another production compiler infrastructure
• Scheduling and resource allocation under hard constraints
• Quantum circuit simulation, including stabiliser or tensor network methods
• Profiling and optimising your own compiler's runtime, not only its output
• Publications, open source contributions, or a compiler project you are willing to talk through

Equal opportunity

SQC is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse perspectives and experiences, and encourage applications from candidates who may not meet every listed requirement. If you’re excited about the role and believe you can contribute, we encourage you to apply.

Export controls

This position may require access to export-controlled information or technology. Employment may be subject to applicable export control laws and may require eligibility assessment based on factors such as nationality, citizenship, or residency, and, where necessary, obtaining relevant export licenses or approvals.

About SQC

SQC was founded by renowned physicist and materials scientist Michelle Simmons, who pioneered the field of atomic electronics, including the development of the world’s first single-atom transistor and the first integrated circuit built with atomic precision. Our Chair, Simon Segars, former CEO of Arm, is a leader in the semiconductor industry and was instrumental in developing the processors that powered the mobile computing revolution.

As a full-stack company with in-house QPU manufacturing, SQC can design, produce and test new quantum chips in under a week, enabling rapid iteration and a decisive advantage in the race to build the world’s first commercial-scale quantum computer.