Quantum Systems Architect

Entangled Future; Garching bei München, Ulm; Hybrid; EUR 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hours

Hybrid work model

Company pension

GYM Wellpass

Bike lease

Conference participation

Relocation and visa support

Multiple locations (Garching, Munich,

Job summary

planqc, a German neutral-atom quantum computing company, seeks a Quantum Systems Architect to drive architectural decisions across major quantum processing products. You will coordinate work across mechanics, optics, electronics, software, and quantum algorithms teams, defining interfaces, budgets, and performance targets.

This senior role requires taking ownership of complex technical challenges, shaping planqc's systems engineering discipline, and leading cross-team design reviews to ensure

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in physics, engineering, or a closely related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience designing, building and integrating complex experimental neutral atom or ion quantum hardware systems.
• Deep understanding of neutral-atom quantum computing platforms and the physics driving system design.
• Proven experience architecting complex systems and leading high-impact technical projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and design of major systems from concept to commissioning.
• Design and manage system architecture for planqc's quantum computing platforms.
• Break down system architecture into well-defined workpackages and assign them to domain experts.
• Coordinate work packages by defining interfaces, functions, and performance requirements.
• Lead design and implementation reviews to catch integration risks and keep subsystems aligned.
• Own and maintain technical budgets (e.g. performance budgets).
• Identify key questions and coordinate cross-team solutions with experts.

Skills

Systems thinking

Technical leadership

Architecting complex systems

AMO physics

Experiment design

Education

PhD in physics/engineering

AMO physics background

Job description

At planqc, we are building scalable quantum computers based on neutral atoms, one of the most promising platforms for achieving real-world quantum advantage. Your role is to develop our achitectural vision and technically lead the product development by technically defining workpackages, interfaces and performances. At the same time you see and own the whole picture.

This role is essentially a Senior Experimental AMO Physicist role augmented by technical management and system engineering skills for efficient distribution of work in a large team. As a Quantum Systems Architect you are driving architectural decisions on our major quantum processing products and technically coordinate the work across all of its subsystems technical teams: identifying key technical risks and strategies to mitigate them, defining logic, interfaces, functions, and performance targets, running design and implementation reviews, and maintaining the technical budgets that keep the system on track to perform.

Beyond individual projects, you will help shape how planqc does systems engineering as a discipline, establishing best practices and exchanging learnings across project teams and hardware generations. This role sits at the intersection of physics and engineering, working shoulder to shoulder with mechanics, optics, electronics, software, and quantum algorithm teams. It is ideal for someone who thinks in systems, enjoys resolving the hard trade-offs between subsystems, and wants to take technical ownership of how our neutral-atom quantum computers are built — for example, our next-generation continuous atom loading system.

What characterizes you

• You think in systems: you naturally see how subsystems interact and where the real bottlenecks are. It is natural for you to see the potential solution from different aspects.
• You take ownership and drive complex technical challenges to a working solution.

What you'll do

• 01 Lead the architecture and design of major new systems from concept through integration and commissioning, i.e, full life cycle. To do this you
• 02 Design, document, and manage the system architecture for planqc's quantum computing platforms.
• 03 Perform the technical breakdown of the system architecture into well-defined workpackages, and distribute them to the relevant domain experts and teams (e.g. performance to the algorithms team, optics to the optical subsystems team).
• 04 Technically coordinate all work packages by defining interfaces, functions, and performance requirements for each of them.
• 05 Lead design and implementation reviews for work packages to catch integration risks early and keep subsystems aligned.
• 06 Own and maintain technical budgets (e.g. performance budgets) to make sure the overall system meets its targets.
• 07 Identify key questions and find solutions with experts in and outside the company, while keeping the whole system consistent with key requirements.

What they're looking for

• Deep understanding of neutral-atom quantum computing platforms (or closely related atomic/quantum systems) and the physics driving system design, such as atom trapping, loading, and coherent control.
• Proven experience architecting complex systems and breaking them down into well-scoped workpackages across hardware and software components.
• Proven track record of successfully leading high-impact technical projects from concept to operation.
• PhD or equivalent industry experience in physics, engineering, or a closely related field, with a strong background in AMO physics.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, and integrating complex experimental neutral atom or ion quantum hardware systems.

Pay and benefits

• Flexible working. Flexible hours and hybrid work where the role allows.
• Company pension. Betriebliche Altersvorsorge with an employer contribution.
• Health and fitness. EGYM Wellpass for gyms, pools and studios, plus regular Health Days.
• Job bike. Lease a bike through planqc.
• Learning and development. Trainings and conference participation, including international conferences. Plus regular internal learning sessions where colleagues share their knowledge.
• Relocation and visa support. Practical support for international hires and their move to Germany or Austria.
• Four locations. Headquarters in Garching, an office in central Munich, plus sites in Ulm and Innsbruck.
• Team culture. Regular team and company events throughout the year, from after work socials to our summer and Christmas parties.

planqc is a German neutral-atom quantum computing company built on research from the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics. Its technology uses individual atoms confined in crystals of light as qubits, and the company has demonstrated scaling of neutral atoms to 1,200 qubits.

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