Scientific Software Engineer – Machine Programming

Summary

This role helps the scientists who build and operate QuEra's neutral-atom quantum computers program those machines effectively. You will maintain the domain-specific language and compiler stack, built on the open-source Kirin toolchain, that experimental physicists use every day to run their experiments.

You will work closely with physicists and control stack engineers. You'll help machine teams turn new experiments into working programs, keep the toolchain reliable as our hardware evolves, and drive its integration with our control system. The role suits an engineer who enjoys building tools and also helping others succeed with them.

Responsibilities

• Maintain the domain-specific language and its compilation stack: triage issues, fix bugs, review pull requests, manage releases and keep CI, tests and dependencies healthy.
• Act as the point of contact for machine and testbed teams programming their experiments. Help them build new experiments, port legacy programs and diagnose compilation or runtime problems.
• Work with control stack engineers on integrating compiled programs with our control system. This includes defining and evolving the program representation passed between the compiler and the control system, keeping the two in sync across releases, and debugging problems that span both.
• Turn user problems into minimal reproducible reports, regression tests and focused fixes, and work with the compiler team on larger language or IR changes.
• Find and fix performance problems in program compilation and execution, such as compile time, program size and timing correctness.
• Write and maintain user-facing documentation, tutorials, example programs and agent skills that make it easier for physicists to write correct programs.
• Work with the hardware control team to support new channel types, control hardware and machine configurations.
• Collect feedback from machine users and turn it into a prioritized roadmap for usability improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Strong Python skills, including type hints, packaging and testing (pytest).
• Enjoys building tools for, and working closely with, scientists who are not professional software developers. Clear written and verbal communication.
• Experience working across team boundaries: agreeing on interfaces, coordinating changes between components and debugging problems that span several systems.
• Experience debugging unfamiliar code and reducing complex failures to minimal reproductions.
• Familiarity with the full software lifecycle: version control, code review, testing, CI/CD, logging, profiling, debugging and documentation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with compilers, domain-specific languages or SSA-based intermediate representations (experience with Kirin, MLIR or LLVM is a plus).
• Background in experimental physics, especially AMO or atomic physics lab control (AWGs, AOMs/AODs, DDS, timing systems, cameras).
• Experience with real-time or embedded control systems, FPGAs, or experiment-control frameworks such as ARTIQ or Labscript.
• Experience with real-time scheduling or execution systems, such as runtime schedulers, streaming or instruction-dispatch systems.
• Experience with C++ or Rust.
• Contributions to open-source libraries.
• Experience using AI coding agents in a development workflow.

The approximate base salary range for this position is $102,400 - $166,400.

We consistently monitor external market data and update base salary ranges accordingly.  We determine base compensation decisions on several factors, including as geographic placement, role-specific knowledge, skills, and/or experience.  In addition to our base salary offerings, we also provide equity grants for all new hires.

QuEra is committed to cultivating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We highly value diversity in our current and future employees and do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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