Quantum Characterization, Verification, and Validation Engineer

PsiQuantum; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

PsiQuantum is seeking a mid-level Quantum Characterization, Verification, and Validation Engineer to advance QCVV for large photonic quantum systems. You will develop scalable protocols, connect experimental data to quantum performance, and drive methods from problem definition to implementation.

The role emphasizes hands-on modeling, simulation on GPUs, and collaboration across hardware, software, and systems teams to improve characterization and reliability of quantum devices.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or equivalent experience in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Experience characterizing or modeling quantum channels, noisy quantum circuits, quantum processes, or quantum error mechanisms.
• Experience developing numerical simulations for quantum systems, quantum circuits, or noisy quantum processes.
• Programming experience for scientific computing and data analysis, preferably in Python.

Responsibilities

• Develop scalable QCVV methods for characterizing large quantum systems, quantum channels, and system-level quantum behavior.
• Develop statistical and numerical methods for extracting meaningful performance information from limited, noisy, and indirect measurement data.
• Build models that connect observed experimental data to underlying quantum channels, error mechanisms, and system-level performance metrics.
• Use large-scale quantum circuit simulation to evaluate characterization protocols, diagnose failure modes, and understand the behavior of noisy quantum channels.
• Apply simulation methods such as tensor networks, GPU-accelerated computation, stabilizer methods, and Monte Carlo techniques where appropriate.
• Work with experimental, architecture, software, and systems teams to compare measured system behavior against theoretical and numerical models.
• Contribute to the definition of diagnostic observables and data analysis pipelines needed for reliable system characterization.
• Document methods, assumptions, limitations, and results clearly.
• Communicate progress, challenges, uncertainties, and conclusions to technical and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Take ownership of research tasks from problem definition through implementation, validation, analysis, and communication.

Skills

Quantitative reasoning

Independent work

Communication

Python

Education

PhD or equivalent

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

TensorFlow

CUDA

CuPy

NumPy/SciPy

ITensor

Stim

Job description

Quantum Characterization, Verification, and Validation Engineer at PsiQuantum, Milpitas, California (remote). A mid-level full time position in the 3340 - Quantum Systems Validation team, listed under hardware engineering.

Job Summary

PsiQuantum is seeking a researcher to develop methods for quantum characterization, verification, and validation (QCVV) of large-scale quantum systems. The successful candidate will work on methods for reliably characterizing quantum channels and system-level behavior in regimes where direct reconstruction is impossible. This includes developing scalable protocols, statistical analysis techniques, and simulation methods that connect experimental data to actionable conclusions about quantum performance.

Large-scale simulation is an important part of this role, particularly in the context of characterizing quantum channels, validating QCVV protocols, understanding error mechanisms, and predicting how characterization methods perform on large systems. Relevant experience may include tensor network methods, GPU-accelerated simulation, Monte Carlo methods, stabilizer simulation, and other approaches for modeling large quantum circuits and noisy quantum processes.

PsiQuantum's architecture is based on photonic quantum computing. Prior experience with photonic quantum computing is valuable but not required. Candidates should be eager to learn the relevant photonic concepts and apply their QCVV, modeling, and simulation expertise to a photonic fault-tolerant quantum computing platform.

This is a hands-on technical role in a fast-moving environment. The ideal candidate is comfortable owning research projects end to end, working across disciplines, communicating uncertainty clearly, and translating technical results into decisions that improve system characterization and performance.

Responsibilities

• Develop scalable QCVV methods for characterizing large quantum systems, quantum channels, and system-level quantum behavior.
• Develop statistical and numerical methods for extracting meaningful performance information from limited, noisy, and indirect measurement data.
• Build models that connect observed experimental data to underlying quantum channels, error mechanisms, and system-level performance metrics.
• Use large-scale quantum circuit simulation to evaluate characterization protocols, diagnose failure modes, and understand the behavior of noisy quantum channels.
• Apply simulation methods such as tensor networks, GPU-accelerated computation, stabilizer methods, and Monte Carlo techniques where appropriate.
• Work with experimental, architecture, software, and systems teams to compare measured system behavior against theoretical and numerical models.
• Contribute to the definition of diagnostic observables and data analysis pipelines needed for reliable system characterization.
• Document methods, assumptions, limitations, and results clearly.
• Communicate progress, challenges, uncertainties, and conclusions to technical and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Take ownership of research tasks from problem definition through implementation, validation, analysis, and communication.

Requirements

• Ph.D. or equivalent experience in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Experience characterizing or modeling quantum channels, noisy quantum circuits, quantum processes, or quantum error mechanisms.
• Experience developing numerical simulations for quantum systems, quantum circuits, or noisy quantum processes.
• Programming experience for scientific computing and data analysis, preferably in Python.
• Ability to reason quantitatively about uncertainty, noise, finite statistics, model mismatch, and scalability.
• Ability to work independently on open-ended technical problems while collaborating effectively with specialists across multiple disciplines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical results, assumptions, limitations, and risks clearly.

Nice to Have

• Experience with one or more QCVV techniques such as randomized benchmarking, gate set tomography, cycle benchmarking, process tomography, shadow tomography, Hamiltonian learning, or related methods.
• Experience with scalable characterization methods for systems where full state or process reconstruction is not possible.
• Experience with tensor network methods for simulating quantum circuits, quantum channels, or noisy quantum processes.
• Experience running large-scale simulations on GPUs, HPC clusters, or distributed computing infrastructure.
• Experience with simulation tools and frameworks such as PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow, CUDA, CuPy, NumPy/SciPy, ITensor, Stim, or related tools.
• Familiarity with quantum error correction, fault tolerance, logical error rates, decoder performance, Pauli errors, erasure errors, leakage, or correlated noise.
• Experience analyzing data from experimental quantum hardware platforms.
• Experience with photonic quantum computing, quantum optics, integrated photonics, measurement-based quantum computation, fusion-based quantum computation, or cluster-state models.