IonQ
Staff Engineer Firmware
Pleasanton, California, United States · Staff+ · Contract
Work authorization required$163k-$214kDetected 13 hours ago
PythonRustC++AlgorithmsCode ReviewAWSCI/CDLinuxDevOpsDesign SystemsFinancial ModelingLogisticsProcess ImprovementFPGAEmbedded SystemsSignal ProcessingControlsTest AutomationLeadershipCommunicationCollaborationProblem SolvingMentoring
About the role
- This role sits at the intersection of hardware and software, requiring you to bridge the gap between physicists, electronics engineers, and firmware teams.
- Beyond writing production-quality code, you will serve as a mentor and strategist, driving coding standards, hardware bring-up strategies, and the continuous improvement of development infrastructure to ensure the scalability of quantum control frameworks.
Responsibilities
- Technical Leadership: Provide architectural direction for real-time control systems and lead technical discussions across hardware and firmware teams.
- System Architecture: Design system controllers on ARM SoC, including user-space drivers, libraries, and reusable frameworks for quantum system control.
- Control Theory & Implementation: Define and implement essential control algorithms, including robust control loops with reliable error handling for precision instruments.
- Hardware Collaboration: Lead board testing and hardware bring-up strategies in coordination with hardware engineers.
- Process Improvement: Drive the evolution of development processes, tooling, and infrastructure, including CI/CD and automated testing.
- Define and implement essential control algorithms, including robust control loops with reliable error handling for precision instruments.
- Drive the evolution of development processes, tooling, and infrastructure, including CI/CD and automated testing.
- You will be responsible for designing complex embedded systems on ARM SoC and ST Micro platforms, developing robust data acquisition pipelines, and implementing the control algorithms that drive precision sensing technology.
Requirements
- BS/MS in EE, CE, or CS with 8-12 years of experience, or a PhD with 8+ years of related work experience.
- To comply with the US export control laws, Vector Atomic employees must be U.S. citizens (born or naturalized), lawful U.S. permanent residents (i.e. green card holders), and certain categories of refugees, and asylees.
- Embedded Expertise: Demonstrated mastery of complex embedded system architecture and designing software systems from the ground up.
- Environment: Must be comfortable working in a laboratory setting.
- Must be comfortable working in a laboratory setting.
- Experience with embedded Linux alongside a strong understanding of C/C++ systems programming.
- Expert-level knowledge of PID, state-space controllers, and adaptive control algorithms.
- Experience with fixed-point algorithms, digital signal processing (DSP), and digital filter design.
- Proficiency in Python for scientific libraries and developer tool creation.
- Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks tailored for hardware/firmware.
Nice to have
- Rust Proficiency: Extensive experience developing production Rust systems, including async runtimes, concurrency patterns, and performance optimization.
- Advanced Control Theory: Expert-level knowledge of PID, state-space controllers, and adaptive control algorithms.
- DSP & Algorithms: Experience with fixed-point algorithms, digital signal processing (DSP), and digital filter design.
- Tooling & Scripting: Proficiency in Python for scientific libraries and developer tool creation.
- Lab Equipment Mastery: Hands-on experience using oscilloscopes, function generators, and voltmeters to verify code performance.
- DevOps for Embedded: Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks tailored for hardware/firmware.
Skills
- In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance.
- IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before.
- About Vector Atomic
- Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills using profilers, debuggers, and simulation tools.
- Excellent verbal and written skills for articulating complex concepts to diverse audiences.
Compensation
- The approximate base salary range for this position is $163,430- $213,972. The total compensation package includes base, bonus, equity, and a range of benefit options found on our career site.
- Vector Atomic values teamwork, open and honest discourse, and work-life balance. We offer competitive compensation and benefits including:
- Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location, and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity.
- Posted base salary figures are subject to change as new market data becomes available.
Benefits
- Platinum-level family health coverage (medical, dental, vision)
- Health and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
- 20 days of paid time off & 11 paid holidays
- Paid parental leave
- We offer competitive compensation and benefits including:
- Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific
- Our benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, matching 401(k), unlimited PTO and paid holidays, parental/adoption leave, legal insurance, and a home technology stipend.
- Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided when a candidate receives an offer of employment.
- office location, and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity.
Visa & Work Authorization
- To comply with the US export control laws, Vector Atomic employees must be U
This listing is sourced directly from IonQ's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.