Cryogenic & RF Platform Operations Manager H/F

Limelight Health; Aubervilliers; Sur place; EUR 90 000 - 120 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

BSPCE plan

Direct IP compensation bonuses

Parental plan

Urban Sports Club

Mental health support

25-day vacation policy

Transportation cost coverage

Health coverage

Meal vouchers

French language courses

Résumé du poste

Alice & Bob, a pioneering quantum computing startup in Île-de-France, seeks a senior leader to head the Cryogenic & RF Platform Operations team. You will manage 7 engineers and technicians responsible for cooldowns, wiring changes, cryostat availability, and instrumentation readiness to ensure high uptime.

The role is on site across two sites in Aubervilliers and Paris 15e, with ~80% time in Aubervilliers and 20% in Paris.

Qualifications

• 7+ years operating, building or maintaining RF/microwave measurement chains, cryogenic systems, test benches or comparable critical infrastructure.
• Practical command of RF instrumentation and signal chains: VNA or spectrum analyser measurement, cabling integrity, troubleshooting.
• Hands-on credibility: you have personally built, wired, debugged or commissioned systems.
• Experience leading a technical team, or clear readiness to step into it.
• Strong planning ability under constraint: tool availability, maintenance windows, competing user demands.
• Pragmatism in real time — you decide with incomplete information and communicate the call.
• Service-oriented mindset toward internal users, and rigorous documentation and traceability.
• Professional English and French.

Responsabilités

• Cryostats and RF chains availability: maintain hardware, run preventive maintenance, troubleshoot.
• Platform operations: plan, document requests, review work, assist with cooldown/warm-up cycles.
• System build and integration: oversee assembly from components to racks, support validation and production readiness.
• Team and budget: manage, hire, budget, drive continuous improvement.

Connaissances

English proficiency

French proficiency

Leadership

Project planning

Formation

Master degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or Production management

Outils

VNA

Spectrum analyser

Cryogenics equipment

Description du poste

Alice & Bob is developing the first universal, fault‑tolerant quantum computer to solve the world’s hardest problems.

The quantum computer we envision building is based on a new kind of superconducting qubit: the Schrödinger cat qubit. In comparison to other superconducting platforms, cat qubits have the astonishing ability to implement quantum error correction autonomously!

We're a diverse team of 250+ brilliant minds from over 35 countries united by a single goal: to revolutionise computing with a practical fault‑tolerant quantum machine. Are you ready to take on unprecedented challenges and contribute to revolutionising technology? Join us, and let's shape the future of quantum computing together!

About the role

Every qubit we design has to be cooled to 10 millikelvin, wired and instrumented before anyone can measure anything. Between the chip and the measurement sits a full microwave chain: cold RF and DC wiring down the cryostat, attenuation and thermalization at every stage, then the instrumentation and control racks at room temperature. That platform — dilution cryostats and their measurement chains — is one of the company most critical assets, and the Cryogenic & RF Platform Operations team owns it.

You lead that team: 7 engineers and technicians who run cooldown and warm‑up cycles, modify cold and room‑temperature RF and DC cabling on user request, keep cryostats and instrumentation racks available and qualified, build new systems in house, and act as the single entry point for the QPU design and characterization teams. Your job is quality and availability: every hour the platform is down is an hour the company isn’t measuring qubits.

Responsabilities

• Cryostats and RF chains availability
  • Keep cryostats, wiring and instrumentation up and running: preventive maintenance plans, corrective action, first-level troubleshooting.
  • Own the health of the measurement chains — routine V&V on RF and DC instrumentation, characterization of the signal path, detection of drift and degradation.
  • Track and drive uptime; monitor environmental conditions (vibration, temperature).
  • Align with the other team leads on RF and hardware architecture standards and implementation practice.
• Platform operations
  • Plan and schedule operations with the team, against user requests and company iteration cycles.
  • Make sure requests are documented and complete, and review the work delivered.
  • Contribute directly to cooldown/warm‑up cycles and cabling changes when the load requires it.
  • Establish and maintain standard operating procedures; manage stock and supplier loops, including RF components and cryogenic consumables.
• System build and integration
  • Oversee in‑house assembly and integration, from components to operational setups: cryostat assembly; cabling assembly — plates, thermalization, attenuators and filtering; assembly and wiring of the instrumentation and control racks; and full system integration.
  • Support the design teams during validation: test campaigns, V&V execution, feedback on manufacturability and operability.
  • Run final acceptance before a system enters production — tools qualified, documentation ready, team trained.
• Team and budget
  • Manage and grow a team of engineers and technicians: day‑to‑day supervision, 1:1s, mentoring, skill development.
  • Define hiring needs and drive recruitment with People & Culture team.
  • Prepare and oversee the team’s budget.
  • Drive continuous improvement, technical and organizational (A3 and equivalent).

Requirements

• Educational Background
  • A Master degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or Production management — or equivalent experience.
• Experience
  • 7+ years operating, building or maintaining RF/microwave measurement chains, cryogenic systems, test benches or comparable critical experimental infrastructure — in industry, in a large research facility, or on a pilot line.
  • Practical command of RF instrumentation and signal chains: VNA or spectrum analyser measurement, cabling integrity, troubleshooting.
  • Hands‑on credibility: you have personally built, wired, debugged or commissioned systems, and the team will know it.
  • Experience leading a technical team, or clear readiness to step into it.
  • Strong planning ability under constraint: tool availability, maintenance windows, competing user demands.
  • Pragmatism in real time — you decide with incomplete information and communicate the call.
  • A service‑oriented mindset toward internal users, and genuine rigor in documentation and traceability.
  • Professional English and French.
• Nice to have
  • dilution refrigerators or sub‑kelvin cryogenics; microwave measurement at low temperature; quantum technologies; Lean or operational excellence practice.

Working conditions

• The platform is split across two sites in Île‑de‑France, Aubervilliers and Paris 15ième. The role is on site, with regular travel between the two — expect roughly 80% on Aubervilliers, and 20% on Paris 15ième.

Recruitment process

• Screening Call with Alexandra Talent Acquisition Specialist (30 min)
• Hiring Manager Interview with Antoine, your future manager (45 min)
• Technical case study on site (60 min) — prepared and presented on the day, nothing to do beforehand
• Leadership and Fit Interview (60 min)

Benefits

• BSPCE plan - Our success is your success: own it with our BSPCE plan
• Direct IP Compensation: Earn substantial bonuses for driving the core patents that define our quantum architecture.
• A parental plan including additional benefits such as crèche support or additional days‑off to take care of under 12 years old children.
• Subsidized membership with Urban Sports Club.
• Mental health support with moka.care.
• 25-day vacation policy (as per French law) + RTT.
• Half of transportation cost coverage (as per French law), or yearly allowance for the die‑hard bicycle users.
• Competitive health coverage, with Alan.
• Meal vouchers with Swile, as well as access to a fully equipped and regularly stocked kitchen.
• French language courses covered by the company for those interested.
• Research shows that women might feel hesitant to apply for this job if they don't match 100% of the job requirements listed. This list is a guide, and we'd love to receive your application even if you think you're only a partial match. We are looking to build teams that innovate, not just tick boxes on a job spec.
• You will join one of the most innovative startups in France at an early stage, to be part of a passionate and friendly team on its mission to build the first universal quantum computer.
• We love to share and learn from one another, so you will be certain to innovate, develop new ideas, and have the space to grow.