Staff Software Engineer, Non-Realtime Controllers

NightDragon Acquisition Corp.; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Annual bonus

Generous leave

Private medical and dental

Flexible hybrid

Job summary

IonQ Oxford Ionics, now part of IonQ, seeks a highly technical Staff Software Engineer for non-realtime controllers. You will own hardware integrations, develop frameworks, and write controllers in a hands-on role, collaborating with software, systems, and science teams to keep quantum hardware reliable.

You’ll work with guarded timing and FPGA-backed real-time and non‑real-time software, with extensive exposure to Linux environments and observability tooling.

Qualifications

• Deep systems engineering experience and shipping reliable services.
• Experience with Rust or another systems language and async programming.
• Experience building networked services (gRPC/REST) and observability.

Responsibilities

• Take on demanding device integrations with real hardware in a live lab.
• Improve shared framework and bring controllers forward with changes.
• Build tooling, simulators and test infrastructure for speed and reliability.
• Evolve deployment/monitoring to keep fleet observable and reliable.
• Set high coding standards and mentor through examples and reviews.

Skills

Rust/async

Systems engineering

Networked services

Hardware protocols

Bug diagnosis

Communication

Tools

gRPC/REST

Linux

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, UK

Office commitment: Hybrid

The Role:

Quantum is now, and it's built here. Oxford Ionics, now part of IonQ, is pioneering the next generation of quantum computing. Using our world‑leading trapped‑ion technology, we're building the most powerful, accurate and reliable quantum systems to tackle problems that today's supercomputers cannot solve.

We're looking for an enthusiastic and highly technical Staff Software Engineer for our non‑realtime controllers team who will thrive in our dynamic cross‑disciplinary environment. You'd be working closely with our skilled software engineers, our systems teams who operate the physical quantum computers, and our world‑leading quantum scientists to build and operate the software that controls the hardware surrounding our quantum computers. Previous exposure to quantum systems is not required.

You will take on our most demanding hardware integrations and the framework work that makes every other controller better. This is a hands‑on engineering role: you would be the most experienced engineer writing controllers, not the one directing others to write them.

A working quantum computer is far more than the ion trap and its real‑time control electronics. It depends on a fleet of supporting hardware, including cryogenic compressors, vacuum pumps, power supplies, lasers, temperature controllers, wavemeters and cameras, that has to be kept observable, controllable and reliable. The timing‑critical operations such as gate waveforms and ion transport run on dedicated real‑time FPGA systems, while this team owns everything that does not need hard timing guarantees. These services run on general‑purpose Linux hardware and must be rock‑solid, because a failed compressor or an un‑noticed pressure drift takes a whole machine offline.

Responsibilities

This is a hands‑on engineering role. Your influence comes from the code you ship and review, and from the problems you take off everyone other's plate.

Key responsibilities include:

• Take on our most demanding device integrations, and do the deep diagnosis of problems that only appear against real hardware in a live lab.
• Remove whole classes of failure across the fleet, rather than instances of them.
• Improve the shared framework yourself, and bring the existing controllers along with each change.
• Build the tooling, simulators and test infrastructure that let the whole team move faster.
• Evolve how our services are deployed and operated as the fleet grows, and make the fleet observable enough that problems are found early.
• Raise the bar of everyone around you through the code you write and the reviews you give.

Requirements

To be successful, you will need deep systems engineering experience, a track record of shipping and operating reliable services, and the judgement to tell a problem worth solving structurally from one worth patching. We're looking for someone who wants to stay hands‑on in the code at this level rather than move away from it.

• Expert systems engineering skills. Our controllers are written in Rust, so either solid Rust experience or deep proficiency in another systems language and the appetite to work in a Rust codebase, including async programming.
• Experience building and operating networked services in production such as gRPC or REST, with a real grasp of error handling, observability and failure modes.
• Experience of hardware and instrument protocols and interfaces such as SCPI, Modbus, serial and Ethernet.
• A reputation as the person people bring the undiagnosable bug to, and the ability to prioritise work with a clear understanding of critical versus urgent items.
• Excellent communication skills both within software and across disciplines.

Benefits

Be part of a team that’s shaping the future of quantum. We offer more than just a role, you’ll join a world class community of scientists, engineers and innovators working to unlock the full potential of quantum computing.

• opportunities to further your career alongside industry leaders
• a competitive salary with IonQ stock options
• an annual performance bonus
• generous annual leave
• flexible hybrid 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.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

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, and 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.