Senior Design Automation Engineer, Software, Center for Quantum Computing (AWS)

Amazon; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 195,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon in San Francisco seeks a Senior Design Automation Engineer to help build a quantum processor design automation flow and develop scalable software supporting quantum research. You will create reusable Python analysis tools and drive performance improvements across design, simulation, and analysis workloads.

The role emphasizes collaboration with scientists, mentorship, and advancing the internal research software stack using modern QC workflows and open-source technologies.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s with 6+ years of applied research experience.
• Experience programming in Java, C++, Python.
• Experience working with scientists in a research environment.
• Experience with the full software development lifecycle.
• Experience setting up and running high-performance computing (HPC) workflows.
• Experience running physics simulations using Python.

Responsibilities

• Work with designers to build a quantum processor design automation flow, involving new software development and influencing design team workflow.
• Develop a shared Python library for analysis and optimization routines reusable across designs.
• Profile and improve the performance of design, simulation, and analysis tools to enable scaling to larger devices.
• Leverage infrastructure-as-code to define and orchestrate HPC workloads.
• Modify the database and UI as necessary to capture and visualize design progress and performance.
• Identify opportunities to accelerate design workflows by adopting advances in scientific computing, ML, and open-source software.
• Empower scientists to contribute to the codebase through mentorship and documentation.

Skills

Java

C++

Python

HPC workflows

Physics simulations

Education

PhD

Master’s + 6+ years research

Tools

AWS

Open-source software

Job description

Senior Design Automation Engineer, Software, Center for Quantum Computing

Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Salary: $192,200.00 - $260,000.00 USD annually

Export Control Requirement: Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be either a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident, or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be able to obtain a US export license. If you are unsure if you meet these requirements, please apply and Amazon will review your application for eligibility.

Key job responsibilities

• Work with designers to build a quantum processor design automation flow, involving new software development and influencing design team workflow.
• Develop a shared Python library for analysis and optimization routines reusable across designs.
• Profile and improve the performance of design, simulation, and analysis tools to enable scaling to larger devices.
• Leverage infrastructure-as-code to define and orchestrate high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.
• Modify the database and UI as necessary to capture and visualize design progress and performance.
• Identify opportunities to accelerate design workflows by adopting advances in scientific computing, machine learning, and open-source chip layout and design software.
• Empower scientists to contribute to the codebase through mentorship and documentation.

A day in the life: The majority of your time will be spent on projects that extend the functional capabilities or performance of our internal research software stack. You will work backwards from the needs of our science staff, translate requirements into design proposals, balance implementation complexity against delivery time, drive implementation, and coordinate with stakeholders for smooth rollout. Many high-level experimental goals are cross‑cutting, so you’ll collaborate closely with other engineers and scientists on the team.

About the team

You will be joining the software group within the Center of Quantum Computing. The team is comprised of scientists and software engineers building scalable software that enables quantum computing technologies.

Basic Qualifications

• PhD, or Master’s degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
• Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
• Experience working with scientists in a research environment
• Experience with the full software development lifecycle (planning, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance)
• Experience setting up and running high-performance computing (HPC) workflows
• Experience running physics simulations using Python

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with chip design and layout software
• Experience with superconducting quantum computing
• Experience with common open-source scientific software
• Experience with AWS tools and services (or more generally, cloud computing)
• Experience with releasing open source software and/or publishing research papers

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include working safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhering to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicating effectively and respectfully to ensure exceptional customer service; and following all federal, state, and local laws and company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, and the abilities to exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.