Senior Quantum Scientist — Trapped-Ion Innovation & Scaling

Clutch Canada; Colorado; On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

IonQ, Inc. seeks a Senior Staff Quantum Scientist to lead our Science team, driving experimental efforts and the architecture of future quantum systems. You will push ultra-low error rates in trapped-ion devices and help shape scalable, fault-tolerant architectures.

The role requires a PhD in physics or related field with seven+ years of post‑PhD experience, strong quantum control expertise, and hands-on work in calibration, benchmarking, and control software integration.

Qualifications

• PhD in physics or closely related discipline, or equivalent education and experience.
• At least seven years post-PhD experience in academia or industry, or equivalent relevant research experience.
• Strong experience in quantum control, calibration, benchmarking.
• Practical skills in control software, hardware integration or experimental data analysis.
• Experience collaborating and mentoring across teams and communicating results.

Responsibilities

• Lead the experimental science team and drive innovation in coherent control, calibration, and benchmarking at scale.
• Work hands-on with current hardware, designing, debugging, and running experiments, developing novel control schemes.
• Mentor junior scientists and shape technical direction for scalable fault-tolerant systems.
• Represent IonQ at conferences and external collaborations.

Skills

Quantum control

Coherent control

Calibration

Benchmarking

Programming

Education

PhD in physics or related field

Tools

Control software

Hardware integration

Experimental data analysis

Job description

IonQ, Inc. seeks a Senior Staff Quantum Scientist to lead our Science team, driving experimental efforts and the architecture of future quantum systems. You will push ultra-low error rates in trapped-ion devices and help shape scalable, fault-tolerant architectures.

The role requires a PhD in physics or related field with seven+ years of post‑PhD experience, strong quantum control expertise, and hands-on work in calibration, benchmarking, and control software integration.