QPU Design Engineer

Oxford Ionics; Oxford; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Oxford Ionics is seeking a QPU Design Engineer to join their Quantum Processor Unit design team. Contributing to the transformation of ion-trap concepts into practical QPUs, you'll engage closely with scientists and engineers to deliver innovative quantum computing solutions. The role demands expertise in PCB and IC layout, with a solid grounding in engineering principles and excellent collaboration skills. Oxford Ionics offers a range of benefits alongside an opportunity to work at the forefront of quantum technology.

Benefits

Business stock options

Generous annual leave

Flexible working

Private medical insurance

Private dental insurance

Qualifications

• Approximately 5 years of hands-on experience in IC layout and PCB design.
• Diverse experience in photonics and RF design preferred.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across teams.

Responsibilities

• Design complex QPU layouts and support hardware.
• Collaborate on ion-trap architecture with scientists.
• Ensure design compatibility with physical system constraints.

Skills

IC layout

PCB design

photonic design

RF design

collaboration

Education

Relevant academic qualifications or equivalent industrial experience

Job description

The future is quantum. Oxford Ionics is at the forefront of pioneering quantum computing, delivering world-leading innovation to create the most powerful, accurate, and reliable quantum systems. Quantum computing offers a radically new way of building computers that harnesses the power of quantum physics to outperform conventional supercomputers exponentially. Using our unique trapped-ion technology, we are leading the race to unleash quantum computing's unparalleled potential.

What to expect:

We are looking for an experienced Printed Circuit Board (PCB) designer or Integrated Circuit (IC) layout engineer to strengthen our Quantum Processor Unit (QPU) design team and facilitate the company's ongoing growth and future expansion plans. In this hands-on design role, you’ll play a central part in bringing our ion-trap chip designs into production, working closely with our scientists and in-house fabrication engineers.

What you’ll be responsible for:

As a QPU Design Engineer, you will play a key role in transforming ion-trap concepts into fully realised QPUs. You’ll be responsible for the layout of complex electrode structures on our custom QPU ICs, integrating components such as integrated photonics and working closely with both our in-house fabrication team and external partners to define design rules and ensure the QPU can be fabricated with acceptable yield. You’ll also design and lay out the associated PCBs and supporting electronic structures for the QPU, working alongside our technical staff to define the appropriate physical implementation of the wider system (such as thermal management).

Key Responsibilities:

• Designing QPU layouts: Create the layout of QPU IC's, including multi-layer metal track routing as well as modification of the ion trap layouts and scripting.
• Collaborating on ion-trap architecture: Partner with our ion-trap scientists to shape and refine trap and array designs, ensuring alignment with experimental goals and physical constraints.
• Developing support hardware: Design the surrounding system, such as silicon and ceramic interposers, as well as carrier PCBs.
• Ensuring physical system compatibility: Design QPU components with full consideration of system-level constraints, including vacuum chamber integration, cryogenics, and thermal management.
• Supporting manufacturing and assembly: Specify, source, and document components while working closely with manufacturing teams to ensure smooth QPU build and test processes.

We’re seeking a proactive and technically skilled engineer who can take ownership of complex design tasks with minimal supervision. You should have hands-on experience (approximately 5 years) in several of the following areas: IC layout, PCB design and layout.

You’ll need to be self-motivated, solutions-focused, and able to collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams. Strong communication skills and the ability to engage with scientists, engineers, and manufacturing teams are essential to ensure alignment at every stage of the design process. A solid foundation in science or engineering is also required to understand and translate ion-trap concepts into manufacturable designs that work within the physical and operational constraints of our quantum systems.

The ideal candidate will have diverse experience across PCB and IC layout, ideally with exposure to photonic and RF design. Relevant academic qualifications or equivalent industrial experience are highly valued, along with a background in commercial or industrial environments.

Oxford Ionics is leading the way in quantum technology, and we need skilled, innovative individuals like you. We offer a range of benefits, including opportunities to further your career with a world-class team, business stock options, generous annual leave, flexible working, private medical and dental insurance for you and your family, and much more. Join us and be part of the future of quantum computing.

Oxford Ionics is committed to equal opportunity for all.