Senior/Staff Electro-Optic Hardware Design Engineer

PsiQuantum's mission is to build the first useful quantum computers: machines capable of delivering the breakthroughs the field has long promised. Since our founding in 2016, our singular focus has been to build and deploy million-qubit, fault-tolerant quantum systems.

Quantum computers harness the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that even the most advanced supercomputers or AI systems will never reach. Their impact will span energy, pharmaceuticals, finance, agriculture, transportation, materials, and other foundational industries.

Our architecture and approach is based on silicon photonics. By leveraging the advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry, including partners like GlobalFoundries, we use the same high-volume processes that already produce billions of chips for telecom and consumer electronics. Photonics offers natural advantages for scale: photons don't feel heat, are immune to electromagnetic interference, and integrate with existing cryogenic cooling and standard fiber-optic infrastructure.

That approach has since been tested at the highest level of scrutiny the U.S. government applies to emerging technology, and it has held up. In 2025, PsiQuantum closed a $1 billion funding round that valued the company at $7 billion. In 2026, the U.S. Department of Commerce signed a $100 million Letter of Intent under the CHIPS and Science Act, followed by a $125 million agreement with DARPA under Stage C of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, PsiQuantum's most valuable U.S. government agreement to date. This year, we also broke ground on our utility-scale quantum computer in Brisbane, Australia, and continued building out our Chicago site. Victor Peng, our CEO, and co-founder Jeremy O'Brien, now Executive Chairman, lead a team and board that reflects how seriously the world is taking this build, joined this year by Intel's Lip-Bu Tan and Atomico's Niklas Zennström.

PsiQuantum also develops the algorithms and software needed to make these systems commercially valuable. Our application, software, and industry teams work directly with leading Fortune 500 companies, including Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Mitsubishi Chemical, to prepare quantum solutions for real-world impact.

Quantum computing is not an extension of classical computing. It represents a fundamental shift, and a path to mastering challenges that cannot be solved any other way. The potential is enormous, and we now have the funding, the government validation, and the sites under construction to make it real.

Job Summary:

We are seeking a senior- or staff-level engineer to own the detailed design, integration, and qualification of electro-optic hardware modules used in advanced photonic systems. Working alongside the Photonic Hardware Architect, this role turns system requirements and high-level concepts into robust rack-mountable or blade-format products containing optical amplifiers, attenuators, polarization controllers, power monitors, control electronics, and related optical and electro-optic subassemblies. The engineer will lead internal design execution, direct external development partners, and establish the experimental evidence and verification rigor needed for sound technical and production decisions.

Overview:

- Own detailed electro-optic module design from requirements and concept selection through prototype build, EVT, DVT, and transfer to manufacturing.

- Translate system architecture into complete optical, electrical, mechanical, thermal, firmware-control, and test interfaces for rack-mountable boxes and blade assemblies.

- Serve as the hands-on technical lead connecting system architects, photonics, electronics, mechanical engineering, test, operations, and external suppliers.

Responsibilities:

- Own the detailed design and integration of electro-optic modules incorporating optical amplifiers, variable or fixed attenuators, polarization controllers, optical switches, splitters, couplers, filters, power monitors, photodiodes, control electronics, and associated fiber infrastructure.

- Convert system and subsystem requirements into engineering specifications, interface definitions, optical power and noise budgets, schematics, component selections, bills of materials, mechanical layouts, tolerance analyses, and assembly documentation.

- Lead design trade studies across optical performance, noise, stability, dynamic range, control bandwidth, thermal behavior, reliability, serviceability, manufacturability, cost, and schedule; document decisions and residual risks.

- Design controlled experiments, select appropriate instrumentation and statistical methods, analyze data, and make technically defensible decisions when models, component data, or vendor claims are insufficient.

- Plan and execute module bring-up, characterization, margin testing, environmental testing, fault-injection testing, and reliability-oriented testing; automate measurements and data reduction where practical.

- Author verification and acceptance requirements, test plans, procedures, and reports for engineering builds and externally supplied modules, including clear pass/fail criteria and traceability to requirements.

- Lead EVT and DVT for internally developed and vendor-developed hardware; investigate failures, drive root-cause analysis and corrective actions, and ensure closure of test anomalies and design risks.

- Oversee internal design reviews and configuration control, ensuring that drawings, schematics, BOMs, firmware or control interfaces, calibration data, and released test documentation remain consistent and production-ready.

- Own technical collaboration with contract manufacturers and specialist vendors, including statements of work, requirements flow-down, design reviews, prototype acceptance, supplier qualification, and resolution of quality or yield issues.

- Partner with manufacturing and operations to implement design-for-manufacture, design-for-test, calibration, alignment, service, and end-of-line acceptance strategies that support repeatable builds and field use.

- Communicate status, decisions, risks, and recovery plans clearly across functions; provide concise, decision-oriented executive updates without losing the underlying technical rigor.

Core competencies / what success looks like:

- Detailed module designs meet performance, interface, safety, reliability, manufacturability, and serviceability requirements with objective verification evidence.

- EVT and DVT are executed with complete, traceable documentation; failures and technical risks are surfaced early and closed decisively.

- Internal teams and external suppliers deliver build-ready designs, consistent documentation, and repeatable acceptance results.

- Technical decisions are made quickly but rigorously through focused experiments, clear trade studies, and concise communication.

Experience/Qualifications:

Required Qualifications

- B.S. or higher in electrical engineering, optical engineering, physics, mechanical engineering, or a related field, with substantial relevant industry experience.

- Demonstrated ownership of detailed electro-optic or opto-mechanical hardware design through prototype, verification, qualification, and manufacturing release.

- Strong hands-on knowledge of fiber-optic components and subsystems, including amplifiers, attenuators, polarization control, optical power monitoring, photodetection, and practical fiber management.

- Experience integrating optical, analog and digital electronics, thermal management, mechanical packaging, connectors, power distribution, communications, and safety features in rack-mountable or blade-format equipment.

- Proficiency developing requirements, interface-control documentation, optical and electrical budgets, verification matrices, test plans, procedures, acceptance criteria, and formal test reports.

- Strong experimental judgment, including test design, instrumentation, measurement uncertainty, data analysis, and the ability to distinguish component limitations from integration or test artifacts.

- Experience leading EVT/DVT, hardware bring-up, structured debugging, failure analysis, root-cause investigation, and corrective-action closure.

- Proven ability to direct vendors and contract manufacturers while maintaining technical ownership, schedule discipline, document quality, and configuration control.

- Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to collaborate across disciplines and distill complex technical work into efficient executive-level updates.

Preferred qualifications:

- Experience with high-power or low-noise optical amplification, photonic calibration, metrology, quantum photonics, or precision instrumentation.

- Familiarity with laser and electrical safety, EMI/EMC, thermal and environmental qualification, reliability methods, and applicable product-compliance practices.

- Experience creating automated laboratory or production test systems using Python, LabVIEW, MATLAB, or similar tools.

- Working knowledge of statistical tolerance analysis, measurement-system analysis, design of experiments, reliability growth, and supplier quality methods.

- Experience transferring low-volume, high-complexity hardware into repeatable production and supporting sustaining engineering or field failure analysis.

PsiQuantum provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. PsiQuantum does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable laws.

Note: PsiQuantum will only reach out to you using an official PsiQuantum email address and will never ask you for bank account information as part of the interview process. Please report any suspicious activity to [email protected] .

We are not accepting unsolicited resumes from employment agencies.

Base pay is one part of the total compensation package. Full-time roles are eligible for equity and benefits. Our compensation ranges reflect the cost of labor across multiple U.S. geographic markets, and we pay based on defined geographic zones. This position may be filled within one of the following U.S. geographic zones, each with its own salary range.

Actual compensation may vary outside of these ranges and is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, a candidate's qualifications, relevant education and training, competencies, experience, geographic location, business needs, and internal equity. Your recruiter can share more details about the salary range applicable to your location during the hiring process.

- Zone 1 - Bay Area and NYC

- Zone 2 - Examples include Los Angeles and Washington DC

- Zone 3 - Examples include Austin, Chicago, and Sacramento

- Zone 4 - Examples include Nashville and Phoenix/Tempe and many remote locations

This position includes the following benefits: competitive health coverage for you and your dependents, 401(k) with company match, equity grants, access to financial wellness tools and planning resources, wellness benefits, family support programs, life and disability insurance, paid leave programs, company-designated paid holidays, discretionary time off (DTO), and an end-of-year company shutdown. Some of these benefits have eligibility requirements and may vary based on location, role, or employment status. Many of these benefits are subsidized or fully paid for by the company.

The e s timated annual base salary range for this role is:
Zone 1 $176,500 — $207,400 USD Zone 2 $158,900 — $186,700 USD Zone 3 $141,200 — $165,900 USD Zone 4 $123,600 — $145,200 USD