Staff Test Software Engineer - Quantum Photonics Automation

black.ai; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 236,000 - 277,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

401(k) with company match

Equity grants

Wellness benefits

Family support programs

Life and disability insurance

Paid leave

Company holidays

Discretionary time off

End-of-year shutdown

Job summary

PsiQuantum is expanding a team that builds a photonic quantum computer. The Staff Test Software Engineer will own software that automates testing, calibration, and data acquisition across electro-optical test stations, including sequencing, measurement, and instrument-control code.

The role emphasizes strong Python skills, asynchronous programming, and instrument-control experience, with collaboration across hardware and software teams in a pioneering quantum hardware context.

Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or related field with 8+ years of relevant experience.
• Strong Python skills, including asynchronous programming.
• Hands-on experience building automated test/measurement software with instrument control (SCPI/VISA/GPIB).
• Working knowledge of electrical, optical, or electro-optical measurement concepts.
• Experience debugging distributed or fleet-scale systems.
• Comfortable working at the boundary between software and hardware.
• Experience with photonics, quantum hardware, or semiconductor/wafer-level test.
• Familiarity with test data platforms and pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Own and extend the test-sequencing software (measurement methods, sequencer logic, instrument drivers) used across the electro-optical test fleet, from prototype through production scale.
• Design and implement automated measurement methods for electrical, optical, and electro-optical characterization across multi-instrument control chains.
• Build and maintain instrument control layers (SCPI/VISA-based drivers) for lab and production instrumentation.
• Diagnose and fix fleet-wide test-sequencing issues throughput regressions, alignment/movement bugs, timing anomalies from logs, dashboards, and measurement data.
• Design failure handling so real hardware/measurement failures surface clearly instead of shipping bad data silently.
• Partner with the hardware test automation team to translate new test station designs into automated test and calibration procedures.

Skills

Python

Asynchronous programming

Instrument control

Distributed systems debugging

Software-hardware boundary

Photonics/quantum hardware familiarity

Education

B.S. in EE

B.S. in CS

Tools

SCPI/VISA

Job description

PsiQuantum is expanding a team that builds a photonic quantum computer. The Staff Test Software Engineer will own software that automates testing, calibration, and data acquisition across electro-optical test stations, including sequencing, measurement, and instrument-control code.

The role emphasizes strong Python skills, asynchronous programming, and instrument-control experience, with collaboration across hardware and software teams in a pioneering quantum hardware context.