Chief Scientist, Quantum Hardware

Superlinear; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Direct access to on-premises superconducting QPU hardware

Competitive salary, equity, and full benefits

Travel to IQMP for system operations

Job summary

Superlinear is looking for a Principal Physicist in Palo Alto, CA to oversee the physical understanding of systems that operate superconducting QPUs. You will collaborate with engineers to shape technical outcomes and lead benchmarking and diagnosis efforts.

The ideal candidate holds a PhD and possesses hands-on experience in superconducting qubit characterization. A competitive salary, equity, and full benefits are offered in a small, rigorous team environment.

Qualifications

• PhD required in experimental physics or quantum engineering.
• Hands-on superconducting qubit characterization expertise necessary.
• Working knowledge of microwave measurement techniques expected.

Responsibilities

• Own QPU performance: calibration, benchmarking, and diagnosis.
• Investigate coherence dynamics and gate error mechanisms.
• Collaborate closely with electronics and software engineers.

Skills

Superconducting qubit characterization

Microwave measurement

Experimental physics

Education

PhD in experimental physics or quantum engineering

Tools

Rigetti hardware

QuantrolOx

Q-CTRL

Job description

Principal Physicist

Palo Alto, CA | Full-time

The Role

This is the physics role at Superlinear Computing. You will own the physical understanding of every system we operate or build superconducting QPUs today, entropy sources spanning optical and semiconductor hardware, as our roadmap develops. You work alongside our electronics engineers, setting the physical parameters and theoretical grounding that their implementations execute. The role is senior, independent, and self-directed. The scope grows with the company.

• Own QPU performance across all systems: calibration, characterization, benchmarking, and diagnosis
• Investigate hardware at the physics level, coherence dynamics, noise sources, gate error mechanisms
• Design and validate entropy sources across hardware modalities: optical, semiconductor, and superconducting
• Define physical figures of merit and characterization targets for ML-driven analysis of quantum output streams
• Collaborate with electronics and software engineers on calibration automation and system integration
• Surface and pursue research directions that emerge from operating real hardware across all system types

Required

• PhD in experimental physics or quantum engineering
• Hands‑on superconducting qubit characterization: spectroscopy, Rabi, Ramsey, T₁/T₂, randomized benchmarking, two‑qubit gate tune‑up
• Working knowledge of microwave measurement: IQ mixing, heterodyne readout, pulse shaping

Preferred

• Dilution refrigerator experience at the operator level
• Rigetti hardware, pyQuil, or equivalent gate‑level SDK familiarity
• Exposure to automated calibration frameworks (QuantrolOx, QUAlibrate, Q-CTRL, or similar)
• Depth in TLS physics, flux noise, readout optimization, or crosstalk characterization

What We Offer

• Direct access to on‑premises superconducting QPU hardware at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, the kind of access most researchers only find at national labs
• Small, rigorous team, your technical judgment shapes outcomes directly
• Competitive salary, equity, and full benefits
• Travel to IQMP as needed for system operation and characterization

This is a senior individual contributor role with real strategic weight. The Principal Physicist is the translation layer between what Superlinear Computing envisions and where the boundaries of the physical world are still being drawn.