Senior QPU Design Engineer

NightDragon Acquisition Corp.; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

comprehensive medical, dental, and ves

matching 401(k)

unlimited PTO and paid holidays

parental/adoption leave

legal insurance

home technology stipend

Job summary

IonQ, Oxford Ionics, is seeking a Senior QPU Design Engineer to join the Processor Design team in Oxford. You will help translate requirements into chip layouts and collaborate with scientists and fabrication engineers to advance ion‑trapping hardware.

You will guide chips through the full design process, lay out multi‑layer chips with metal routing and photonics interfaces, and own the delivery of the final tape‑out. Strong layout experience and cross‑team collaboration are essential.

Qualifications

• Experience translating design requirements into features.
• Hands-on chip layout experience.
• Ability to work across teams and discuss chip design.
• Willingness to take charge of projects independently.

Responsibilities

• Guiding chips through the design process, from requirements to layout and tape out.
• Laying out complex multi layer chips, including metal track routing and interfaces with photonics and CMOS.
• Collaborating with scientists to discuss their requirements and settle on specifications.
• Coordinating with other teams to ensure feasibility and compatibility.
• Taking charge of projects independently and owning delivery of the final tape out.

Skills

Chip layout

Cross-team collaboration

Project ownership

Design process leadership

Tools

Cadence IC layout

GDSFactory (Python)

Ion trap design

Job description

About IonQ:

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum platform and merchant supplier - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. IonQ’s newest generation of quantum computers, the IonQ Tempo, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners including Amazon Web Services, and AstraZeneca achieve 20x performance results and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance. Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, IonQ has operations in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington, Italy, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our quantum computing services are available through all major cloud providers, while we also meet the needs of networking and sensing customers across land, sea, air, and space. IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before.

Location:

Oxford, England, UK. Hybrid, three days per week in the Oxford office.

The Role:

We are looking for a Senior QPU Design Engineer to join our Processor Design team at Oxford Ionics, now part of IonQ. You will be responsible for integrating all the features required to operate our quantum computers into complex chips, contributing to the team's mission of advancing the design of high performance quantum processing units. You will work closely with scientists and fabrication engineers to bring new designs for ion trapping chips into production, and you will play an important part in shaping the hardware behind our work building the world's most advanced quantum systems.

Responsibilities

In this position you will turn operational requirements into chip layout, supporting the delivery of devices that enable new technologies. You will have the opportunity to expand the range of features our chips support, contributing directly to the goal of building utility scale quantum computers.

• Guiding chips through the design process, from requirements to layout and tape out


• Laying out complex multi layer chips, including metal track routing and interfaces with photonics and CMOS


• Collaborating with scientists to discuss their requirements and settle on specifications


• Coordinating with other teams to ensure feasibility and compatibility


• Taking charge of projects independently and owning delivery of the final tape out

Requirements

You will need experience translating design requirements into features, alongside hands on experience in chip layout. We are looking for someone who can work across teams to discuss the many aspects of chip design, understand how different parts of a chip influence and constrain one another, take on layout work themselves, and contribute effectively within a fast moving and highly technical team. You will need to drive the design process, solve problems as they arise, and take responsibility for delivery.

We’re looking for someone who can guide chips through the full design process, from requirements through to layout and tape‑out. You will have experience laying out complex, multi‑layer chips, including metal‑track routing and interfaces with photonics and CMOS. You’ll collaborate with scientists to understand their requirements and agree specifications, while coordinating with other teams to ensure feasibility and compatibility. You’ll also be comfortable taking charge of projects independently and owning the delivery of the final tape‑out.

You'd be a great fit with:

• Experience in scripted generation of layout, using GDSFactory in Python or similar


• Experience using Cadence for IC layout


• Experience in ion trap design, photonics design or IC packaging

Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location, and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity. Posted base salary figures are subject to change as new market data becomes available.

Our benefits include

• comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans


• matching 401(k)


• unlimited PTO and paid holidays


• parental/adoption leave


• legal insurance


• a home technology stipend

Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided when a candidate receives an offer of employment.

At IonQ, we believe in fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all while striving to identify and eliminate barriers. We empower employees to thrive by fostering a culture of autonomy, productivity, and respect. We are dedicated to creating an environment where individuals can feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.

We are committed to equity and justice. We welcome different voices and viewpoints and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.

US Technical Jobs.

The position you are applying for will require access to technology that is subject to U.S. export control and government contract restrictions. Employment with IonQ is contingent on either verifying “U.S. Person” (e.g., U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. permanent resident, or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum) status for export controls and government contracts work, obtaining any necessary license, and/or confirming the availability of a license exception under U.S. export controls. Please note that in the absence of confirming you are a U.S. Person for export control and government contracts work purposes, IonQ may choose not to apply for a license or decline to use a license exception (if available) for you to access export‑controlled technology that may require authorization, and similarly, you may not qualify for government contracts work that requires U.S. Persons, and IonQ may decline to proceed with your application on those bases alone. Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.

US Non-Technical Jobs.

Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum. Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.