Network and System Engineer

Qabird; Netherlands; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

33 days leave and holiday allowance

Travel and work expenses allowance

Company-sponsored retirement plan

Young, energetic team

Job summary

Q*Bird is seeking a curious and versatile Network and Systems Engineer to maintain customer deployments of quantum networking devices and our internal IT infrastructure. This role balances long-term reliability with day-to-day support in a fast-growing company.

You will deploy software, validate device readiness, manage certificates, and contribute to automation. You will support deployment in customer networks, troubleshoot Linux and networking, train customers, and become a technical expert on

Qualifications

• 1+ years of experience in network engineering or system administration.
• Experience troubleshooting complex networking and Linux-related issues.
• Experience working directly with customers and production systems.
• Experience with secure communication systems and security best practices.
• Solid understanding of TCP/IP, VLANs, VPNs, routing, and switching.
• Experience with monitoring tools such as SNMP, Grafana, and InfluxDB.
• Experience with Python or Bash for automation.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage and maintain LAN, WAN, VPN, and firewalls.
• Maintain Linux servers, including patching, monitoring, and backups.
• Provide internal IT support for employees and troubleshooting.
• Configure firewalls, certificates, MFA, identity management, and security policies.
• Monitor infrastructure health and resolve incidents.
• Collaborate with developers to improve workflows and tooling.
• Troubleshoot devices in customer networks, including Linux and networking.

Skills

Networking

Linux

Customer support

Azure

Docker

Monitoring

Python Bash

Security awareness

Communication

Tools

Azure

Docker

Grafana

SNMP

Syslog

InfluxDB

Job description

We are looking for a curious and versatile Network and Systems Engineer to maintain and improve both our customer deployments of quantum networking devices and our internal IT infrastructure. We are seeking someone who is security-minded, enjoys collaborating with others, and is motivated to build stable, scalable, and maintainable environments.

You take a long-term approach to solving problems rather than relying on quick fixes. Monitoring, reliability, and maintainability are integral to the way you work, and you actively look for opportunities to improve processes to make work easier for both you and your colleagues. You are comfortable balancing strategic infrastructure initiatives with day-to-day user support in a small but fast-growing company, and you are confident to challenge existing ways when you see a better approach.

You are interested in the future of securing the internet against quantum computers decrypting sensitive information, as well as the broader development of the quantum internet. You are motivated to learn and contribute to shaping this future.

In short, you are a resourceful and proactive Network and System Engineer with experience managing IT environments, and who is skilled in troubleshooting technical issues, improving system reliability, and securing internal environments .

Key Responsibilities

As a Network and System Engineer, you will play a central role in both Q*Bird’s internal infrastructure and the successful operation of our systems in customer networks.

You will help prepare our quantum networking devices for deployment by deploying software, validating device readiness, managing certificates and other security-related configs, and supporting the deployment processes. You will also look for opportunities to improve workflows by contributing to automation and tooling that increase team efficiency. You will help support the deployment and integration of Q*Bird’s quantum networking devices into customer networks and become a technical expert on our products. This includes assisting customers with network configuration, system integration, software and firmware updates, as well as troubleshooting networking, Linux, and system-level issues. As quantum networking technology is still emerging, you will help onboard and train customers, guide them through the setup and operation of their systems, and serve as a trusted technical point of contact as they gain experience with our technology.

Internally, your team will be responsible for maintaining and improving Q*Bird’s infrastructure. You will help manage our own LAN, VPN, Linux servers and other infrastructure. In addition, you will provide day-to-day IT support for employees, helping with laptops, user accounts, permissions, software installation, and troubleshooting in a fast-growing company environment.

We are looking for someone who approaches infrastructure with a long-term mindset. You care about reliability, maintainability, monitoring, and security, and prefer solving root causes over applying temporary fixes. You are comfortable balancing strategic infrastructure improvements with hands‑on operational work and end‑user support. When you see opportunities to improve processes, automate repetitive tasks, or make life easier for colleagues and customers, you take initiative and help drive those improvements forward.

You will thrive in this role if you are a curious and versatile network and systems engineer who enjoys working across networking, customer operations, and infrastructure. Above all, you are excited by the challenge of helping build the future of secure communications and are interested in the role that quantum networking technologies will play in securing the internet against future threats.

In summary,

• Manage and maintain LAN, WAN, VPN, and firewalls
• Manage and maintain Linux servers, including patching, monitoring, and backups
• Provide internal IT support for employees, including laptops, accounts, permissions, software, and troubleshooting
• Configure and manage firewalls, certificates, endpoint protection, MFA, identity management, and security policies
• Monitor infrastructure health, investigate incidents, and resolve network or system outages
• Work with developers to improve our workflows
• Work with engineers in the field to troubleshoot our devices when it comes to Linux and Networking

Your Profile

• 1+ years of experience in network engineering, system administration, customer support engineering, or a similar role
• Experience in troubleshooting complex networking and Linux-related issues
• Experience working directly with customers, including managing production systems and infrastructure
• Comfortable balancing customer-facing and internal operational responsibilities
• Experience with secure communication systems
• Solid understanding of TCP/IP networking, VLANs, VPNs, routing, switching, and VRFs
• Familiarity with firewalls, access controls, and network security principles
• Experience with Azure, Docker, or similar platforms
• Experience with monitoring tools such as SNMP, Syslog, InfluxDB, and Grafana
• Experience in automating tasks using Python, Bash, or similar scripting languages
• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail
• Clear communication skills, with the ability to support both technical and non-technical stakeholders with a service-oriented mindset
• Experience communicating with customers or in customer-facing activities would be valuable
• Comfortable working independently, adapting to changing priorities, and collaborating closely with software engineers, hardware engineers, and scientists.

We don’t expect that the successful applicant will satisfy all the above points, but will have expertise in key areas and significant knowledge in most areas.

Who is Q*Bird

Q*Bird is on a mission to enable quantum connectivity by developing the hardware and software needed for the quantum Internet. We design, build, test, and produce systems for the next generation of secure communication. Our work accelerates quantum Internet adoption by building networking systems, supporting network infrastructure, and collaborating with industry and academia.

Our devices are the result of advancements across multiple disciplines, from optical systems and high-end hardware platforms to robust embedded software and innovative networking protocols. This means our team is a vibrant mix of experts with backgrounds in physics, engineering, software development, academic research, and real-world industry experience.
Over the past year, we’ve experienced remarkable growth, scaling from 20 to 30 team members, and we’re on track to reach 40 by the end of 2026. With a clear vision for the future and ongoing momentum, Q*Bird is on a continuous growth trajectory, bringing cutting-edge quantum solutions to commercial, industry, and government partners

We’re motivated by solving tough challenges, and we’re proud to be working on projects that make a real impact. Our dreams are ambitious, and we’re excited to welcome talented, curious, and driven teammates to help us make quantum networking a reality.

What Q*Bird Offers

• Opportunity to be part of the quantum revolution in a quantum company, and to build the next generation of digital infrastructure. Join us to create the Quantum Future!
• Starting Date: As soon as available
• Full-Time Employment
• Competitive salary package aligned with your skills and experience
• 33 days of annual leave and holiday allowance
• Travel and Work expenses allowance.
• Company-sponsored retirement plan
• Team outings and social activities organized by the company
• A young, energetic, fun team of highly skilled physicists, engineers, and industry experts, with an open working culture
• An international team that places a value on equality and diversity, no matter the race, religion, background, gender, or any of the differences that give each of us that unique perspective to strengthen the team
• Plenty of room for new initiatives and new ideas, and a chance to develop yourself at the cutting edge of technology