Experimental Physicist, Quantum Energy Systems

Praxis, Inc.; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity in startup

Relocation assistance

Health insurance

Unlimited PTO

Professional development stipend

Job summary

Pronoia Energy is seeking an Experimental Physicist in Torrance, CA to design and build measurement rigs, characterize materials and cells, and generate ground-truth data for validation across simulations and theory teams.

The role emphasizes rigorous measurement, breadboard fabrication, and rapid iteration within a cross-disciplinary, high-stakes environment.

Qualifications

• A Physics PhD with a proven track record of building and running real apparatus.
• Strong measurement rigor and error analysis.
• A builder-experimentalist who can fabricate rigs and test setups.
• Comfortable being the empirical check on bold claims.
• Thrives in ambiguity with rapid iteration.

Responsibilities

• Design and build experimental apparatus and measurement rigs.
• Characterize materials and cells with rigorous measurement practices.
• Produce clean, ground-truth data for validation.
• Collaborate with computational and theory teams to test predictions.
• Document methods and results for reproducibility.

Skills

Experimental design

Data analysis

Problem solving

Self-motivation

Education

PhD in Physics

Tools

Data acquisition hardware

Vacuum systems

Cryogenics

Optics

Job description

Company Overview:

Pronoia Energy is a pioneering deep tech startup at the forefront of quantum energy storage innovation. As a lean, mission-driven team, we thrive on rapid prototyping, cross-disciplinary collaboration and solving complex engineering challenges to turn quantum physics into practical, scalable products. Our current focus is on developing our groundbreaking room-temperature macroscopic quantum energy storage technology that promises orders of magnitude greater energy density, faster charging, and higher power delivery as well as being cheaper and safer compared to existing battery technology. This represents a paradigm shift in energy storage with applications spanning consumer electronics, electric vehicles, renewable grids, and beyond.

Role Summary:

To meet our ambitious goals we are hiring an Experimental Physicist to design, build, and run the experiments that test our core scientific claims. This is the empirical conscience of the company, a high-stakes, high-reward role where you measure whether the physics actually works in the real world. In this role you will stand up the measurement rigs, characterize how our materials and cells behave under real conditions, build the instrumentation, and produce the ground-truth data that everything else, from our simulations to our internal verification to the claims we make to the world, must answer to. You will work shoulder to shoulder with our computational and theory teams in a tight predict, measure, learn loop. This role is onsite in Torrance, California.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and build experimental apparatus and measurement rigs from the ground up.
• Characterize materials and cells, chasing down measurement artifacts rigorously.
• Produce clean, reproducible, ground-truth data the rest of the company relies on.
• Work closely with the computational and theory teams to turn predictions into tests and tests into direction.
• Document methods and results so they are reproducible and trustworthy.

Required Qualifications:

• A physics PhD with a record of building and running real apparatus, for example vacuum systems, cryogenics, optics, electronics, or data acquisition.
• Rigor about measurement and error analysis.
• A builder-experimentalist who can make the rig, not only interpret someone else's data.
• Comfort being the empirical check on a company making bold claims.
• A self-starter who thrives amid ambiguity and rapid iteration.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Fluency in the experimental techniques behind quantum-materials or quantum-battery research, such as cavity systems, light-matter coupling, or two-level-system experiments.
• Experience building one-of-a-kind measurement systems under time pressure.
• Strong programming and automation skills for test-bench control and data acquisition.
• Prior work in deep tech R&D alongside interdisciplinary teams.

What We Offer:

• Chance to solve one of the world's biggest engineering challenges and pioneer quantum energy storage.
• Competitive salary, equity in a transformative startup, and performance-based incentives.
• Access to cutting-edge labs, tools, and resources in a flexible, collaborative work environment.
• Comprehensive benefits: health insurance, unlimited PTO, professional development stipend, and relocation assistance if needed.
• A culture of innovation where your work will accelerate our path to market impact.