Staff Software Engineer, Runtime

Physics World; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision plans

Matching 401(k)

Unlimited PTO and paid holidays

Parental/adoption leave

Legal insurance

Home technology stipend

Job summary

IonQ is seeking a senior Systems Software Engineer to join the Runtime Software team in Oxford. You will implement real-time control system behaviours for experiments and build abstractions needed by scientists, helping transition from hardware to a fault-tolerant quantum computer.

You will influence core Rust libraries and the execution environment, enabling scalable, high-precision control of quantum systems while collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams.

Qualifications

• Strong programming skills in one or more mainstream programming languages.
• Experience with systems programming and software design for real-time environments.
• Interest in or experience with Rust.
• Excellent communication across disciplines and teams.
• Comfort with rapidly evolving requirements and high-quality code reviews.

Responsibilities

• Develop abstractions over real-time control hardware for a repeatable, low-latency control system.
• Contribute to core execution model and API design for quantum computer software.
• Create drivers for real-time devices and build tooling for rapid iteration.
• Shape the execution environment for user programs running on our systems.
• Collaborate with scientists, orchestration, FPGA/electronics teams to align architectures.

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.

Job Details

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:

This role is based at our Oxford, England (UK) office, with the option to work a few days a week remotely.

Travel:

Up to 5%

Job ID:

1830

The Role

We are looking for a senior Systems Software Engineer to join our Runtime Software team at Oxford Ionics / IonQ. In this role, you will be responsible for working directly with the experimental scientists to implement the real-time control system behaviours and provide abstractions they require for their experiments, contributing to the team's mission of enabling our science teams to experiment and improve the primitive operations which allow compute, and building towards fault tolerant computation.

You’ll play an important part in shaping the core, Rust, libraries and the execution environment which take our system from a collection of hardware to a quantum computer, and support our work in building the world's most advanced quantum systems.

Responsibilities

In this position, you will work on developing abstractions over real-time control hardware, supporting the effective delivery of a control system capable of repeatedly and reproducibly driving our ions with nano-second level precision, with abstractions which are conducive to both fast iteration and system scaling.

You’ll have the opportunity to accelerate the science core to the development of our systems, and contribute to the core execution model of our quantum computers, contributing directly to the success of building utility-scale quantum computers.

Key Responsibilities Include

• Collaborating with scientists to understand their requirements
• Interfacing with system orchestration, non-realtime control and compiler teams to ensure our work integrates seamlessly with the wider software architecture.
• Interfacing with FPGA and electronics teams to shape the overall system architecture.
• Implementing drivers for various real-time devices.
• Producing tooling to enable users of our code to iterate rapidly and fearlessly.
• Developing the execution environment for the user programs which run on our systems.
• Continually evaluating the shape of our APIs and improving them for our internal users.

Requirements

To be successful, you will need strong programming skills in a systems programming language, experience with software system design, and a desire to produce high quality code appropriate to a real-time environment. We're looking for someone who can quickly iterate on low-level code in a collaborative, cross-disciplinary, environment and contribute effectively within a fast moving, highly technical team.

• Have strong programming skills in one or more mainstream programming languages
• Have experience with a systems programming programming
• Have experience with real-time linux or embedded systems or another low-latency computing environment
• Have an interest in or experience with Rust
• Have developed excellent communication skills both within the context of software and across disciplines
• Are comfortable working with rapidly evolving requirements
• Are used to maintaining and producing high quality code reviews and appropriate testing
• Have a desire to maximise impact through quick iteration and short cycles of learning and improvement
• Are eager to learn and develop your skills

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.

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.

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.