Technical Programme Manager, Quantum Benchmarking

About IonQ: 

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum platform and merchant supplier - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. IonQ’s newest generation of quantum computers, the IonQ Tempo, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners including Amazon Web Services,andAstraZeneca achieve 20x performance results and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance.

Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, IonQ has operations in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington, Italy, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our quantum computing services are available through all major cloud providers, while we also meet the needs of networking and sensing customers across land, sea, air, and space. IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before.  

Role Overview

Role:

IonQ is building quantum computers that will reach utility scale, and the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative run by DARPA is one of the most demanding independent tests of that ambition. Through the initiative, teams of government experts verify and validate successive generations of our systems, and contractual milestones depend on IonQ demonstrating clear, credible progress against an agreed plan.

This role sits in our Architecture team in College Park, Maryland, and is the connection between internal quantum computer development at IonQ and the initiative. You will turn internal engineering plans into a single schedule that a technically sophisticated customer can trust, and you will manage the deliverables, reviews and site visits that come with it. It suits someone who understands the physics well enough to hold their own with national laboratory experts, and who has also learned the programmatics that keep a government contract on track.

Responsibilities:

You will integrate the schedules of several internal quantum computer development efforts into one master schedule that shows our path to fault tolerant, utility scale quantum computing, and you will present it to government customers and their technical experts. You will track risk burndown across those efforts and forecast it honestly, so that anything threatening a contractual milestone is surfaced and mitigated early rather than discovered late.

You will own the external deliverables, including architecture documentation, verification and validation documentation, and the commissioning and delivery of systems into government laboratories. That means negotiating the structure, quality and content of deliverables with government evaluators, balancing internal engineering milestones against verification activity, and organising customer site visits and status reviews with the right internal experts in the room. Some analysis will look ahead to architectures beyond the systems in build today, so you will be comfortable working with ambiguity.

Key responsibilities include:

• Build and maintain a government quality integrated master schedule across internal development efforts.
• Track, forecast and report risk to upcoming contractual milestones.
• Manage architecture, verification and validation deliverables with government evaluation teams.
• Plan the commissioning and delivery of quantum computers to customer sites.
• Organise customer site visits, technical reviews and status reporting.

Requirements:

You will have a strong grounding in quantum technology, ideally atomic, molecular and optical physics, and around five years of experience in a broader technical role where you worked close to the hardware. That depth matters because the customer is technically sophisticated, and planning credible schedules for them means understanding what the engineering actually involves.

You will also have learned the programmatics. You will have worked as a technical program manager, project engineer or systems engineer, led across a matrixed organisation without direct authority, and kept complex schedules and deliverables under control. A PhD in physics or equivalent practical experience is typical for this role, and you will need to be able to obtain a US security clearance.

You’d be a great fit with:

• Experience with trapped ion or other qubit technologies.
• Systems engineering experience on defence or government contracts.
• Experience working with government test and evaluation teams or national laboratories.
• Experience building integrated master schedules for government customers.
• An active US security clearance.

This role is based in College Park, Maryland, with a minimum of three days on site each week.

The total compensation package includes base salary, bonus, equity, and a range of benefits available on our career site.

If this role has a commission structure, the compensation range below just reflects the base compensation range.

Wage Transparency:

$1—$1 USD

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. 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. 

At IonQ, we believe in fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all while striving to identify and eliminate barriers. We empower employees to thrive by fostering a culture of autonomy, productivity, and respect. We are dedicated to creating an environment where individuals can feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.

We are committed to equity and justice. We welcome different voices and viewpoints and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.

US Technical Jobs.  The position you are applying for will require access to technology that is subject to U.S. export control and government contract restrictions.  Employment with IonQ is contingent on either verifying “U.S. Person” (e.g., U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. permanent resident, or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum) status for export controls and government contracts work, obtaining any necessary license, and/or confirming the availability of a license exception under U.S. export controls.  Please note that in the absence of confirming you are a U.S. Person for export control and government contracts work purposes, IonQ may choose not to apply for a license or decline to use a license exception (if available) for you to access export-controlled technology that may require authorization, and similarly, you may not qualify for government contracts work that requires U.S. Persons, and IonQ may decline to proceed with your application on those bases alone.  Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.  

US Non-Technical Jobs.  Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum. Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.

If you are interested in being a part of our team and mission, we encourage you to apply!