Staff Cryptography Engineer: Post-Quantum & Hardware Acceleration

Physics World; Genf; On-site; CHF 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Equity plan

Flexible work models

Training & development

Global team

Job summary

IonQ, a leading quantum computing company, seeks a Staff Cryptography Engineer to build post-quantum cryptography hardware acceleration for HSM and network-appliance products. You will implement software for ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA/LMS in C/C++/Rust and Python, focusing on constant-time crypto and verification tooling.

You will collaborate with senior cryptography engineers, support RTL/firmware teams, and evaluate third-party libraries, while engaging with NIST ACVP/CAVP workflows.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Cryptography, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field.
• At least five years of experience implementing cryptographic algorithms or security-critical software in C/C++ or Rust.
• Solid cryptographic foundations with exposure to post-quantum schemes is a plus.
• Excellent code quality, testability, and understanding of constant-time implementations.
• Fluency in English; French or German is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Implement reference models, optimised software and test-vector infrastructure for ML-KEM, ML-DSA and SLH-DSA/LMS.
• Support hardware and firmware teams with algorithm expertise, debugging and tooling for certification.
• Decompose algorithms into hardware-friendly blocks and assist with RTL/firmware questions.

Skills

C/C++/Rust

Cryptography

Constant-time

NIST ACVP/CAVP

English fluency

Education

Master's degree in Cryptography / Mathematics / CS

Tools

CAVP/ACVP tooling

Test-vector formats

Job description

IonQ, a leading quantum computing company, seeks a Staff Cryptography Engineer to build post-quantum cryptography hardware acceleration for HSM and network-appliance products. You will implement software for ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA/LMS in C/C++/Rust and Python, focusing on constant-time crypto and verification tooling.

You will collaborate with senior cryptography engineers, support RTL/firmware teams, and evaluate third-party libraries, while engaging with NIST ACVP/CAVP workflows.