Principal Photonics Design Methodology 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. 

In 2024, PsiQuantum announced government-funded projects to support the build-out of our first utility-scale quantum computers in Brisbane, Australia, and Chicago, Illinois. These initiatives reflect a growing recognition that quantum computing will be strategically and economically defining—and that now is the time to scale. 

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 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 have a clear path to make it real. 

Come join us. 

Job Summary:

Quantum computing promises to solve many important problems that could never be solved on any conventional computer. At PsiQuantum we’re building a general-purpose silicon photonic quantum computer to tackle these very problems.

PsiQuantum is looking for an experienced and highly motivated Principal Photonics Design Methodology Engineer to serve as the technical owner/approver/trainer of our silicon development toolchain while driving internal education and enablement across the IC chipset design, implementation, and verification organization. This individual contributor role governs approved EDA tool versions, internal automation frameworks, and flow releases to ensure reproducibility and tapeout integrity, while also leading structured training, onboarding, and documentation initiatives that increase internal adoption, improve efficiency and reduce tapeout errors. The role combines deep hands-on methodology expertise with a passion for knowledge transfer—ensuring that designers and verification engineers not only use the right tools and flows, but understand them deeply enough to execute predictably, efficiently, and at scale.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary technical educator for tools, flows, and methodology updates.
• Validate, and release approve EDA tool versions, PDKs, and internal automation frameworks.
• Maintain “golden” tool environments, establish best practices for methodologies and tools, and flow baselines per project milestone.
• Establish and document configuration management, version tagging, and rollback procedures.
• Develop and maintain clear, structured methodology documentation and best-practice guides.
• Create and deliver internal training programs, workshops, and onboarding curricula.
• Partner with Design, Implementation, Verification, DFT, and IT teams to resolve tool and flow issues
• Support tapeout readiness reviews and ensure environment reproducibility

Experience/Qualifications:

• Bachelors/Masters/PhD or other advanced degrees in Photonics, Physics, EE, Computer Science or related engineering fields.
• 8+ years of experience in semiconductor design, implementation, or verification environments.
• Experience in supporting multiple tapeouts.
• Demonstrated ability to create technical documentation and deliver structured training.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with an ability to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences.
• Experience managing EDA tool upgrades and validation processes.
• Experience with instrument drivers and automation, and complex multi-instrument measurement systems.
• Domain knowledge: expert level coder in Python.
• Proven team player with an ability to work effectively across departments, sites, time zones.
• Strong critical thinking, creative, innovative, analytical, and detail-oriented problem-solving skills.
• Proven track record of impactful results.
• Ability to work independently with limited direction.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and juggle multiple priorities and deliver against a schedule.
• Demonstrated interest in quantum computing
• Ability to contribute to a fast-paced start-up environment. 

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 recruiting@psiquantum.com.

We are not accepting unsolicited resumes from employment agencies.