{"id":3286172,"url":"https://alion.io/job/psiquantum-photonics-layout-engineer","title":"Photonics Layout Engineer","company":{"id":1616,"name":"PsiQuantum","domain":"psiquantum.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/psiquantum","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":88,"open_postings":73,"ghost_share":0.11,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":106,"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Palo Alto, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":139800,"max":164300,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":164300},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Git","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-26T18:22:50Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-26","last_verified_at":"2026-10-28T16:20:22Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":1},"description":"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. \nQuantum 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. \nOur 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. \nThat 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. \nPsiQuantum 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. \nQuantum 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. \nJob Summary:\nQuantum 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. \nWe are looking for an energetic, highly motivated Photonic Layout Engineer who will be responsible for the design, layout, and verification of photonic integrated circuits (PIC) for foundry fabrication.\nYou will in a high pace environment, working across hardware and design enablement teams to translate photonic designs and process requirements into manufacturable layouts. The role combines hands-on PIC layout with python-based or commercial-based layout tools (GDSFactory, Synopsys, Candence Photonics, etc) with verification and automation.\nResponsibilities:\nPrepare and maintain photonic layouts from individual components to complex circuits, using passive and active components.\nDrive foundry tapeouts from implementing layouts to physical verification, including design rule checking (DRC), layout versus schematic (LVS), fill, and density checks.\nDevelop and maintain layout infrastructure and automation tools that improve layout quality and workflow efficiency.\nContribute to PDK development by implementing and validating layout components and design rules.\nPrepare clear, complete documentation and handoff materials for tapeouts.\nExperience/Qualifications:\nEducation\nMaster’s degree, PhD, or equivalent in Electrical, Computer Engineering, Material Science, Physics.\n\nExperience\n2 years of relevant work or academic research experience in integrated photonics and layout.\n\n Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities\nExperience creating layouts for photonic integrated circuits and understanding how photonic components and circuits map to physical layout.\nExperience with one or more photonic layout tools, such as GDSFactory, Synopsys, Cadence, or similar.\nStrong Python programming skills, including experience scripts for layout generation, automation or numerical analysis.\nExperience with collaborative code management tools such as Git.\nExperience with silicon photonic manufacturing processes, foundry design rules, and tapeout workflows.\nProven team player with an ability to work effectively across departments, sites, time zones.\nExcellent verbal and written communication skills.\nStrong analytical and detail oriented problem-solving skills.\n[ Open to other levels of experience]\nPsiQuantum 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.\nNote: 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  .\nWe are not accepting unsolicited resumes from employment agencies.\nBase 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.\nActual 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. \nZone 1 - Bay Area and NYC \nZone 2 - Examples include Los Angeles and Washington DC \nZone 3 - Examples include Austin, Chicago, and Sacramento \nZone 4 - Examples include Nashville and Phoenix/Tempe and many remote locations \nThis 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. \nThe estimated annual base salary range for this role is: \nZone 1\n$139,800—$164,300 USD\nZone 2\n$125,900—$147,900 USD\nZone 3\n$111,800—$131,400 USD\nZone 4\n$97,900—$115,000 USD","description_format":"text","description_chars":7557,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"master","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Optical Communications","Quantum Science & Computing","Quantum Computing Hardware"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-26T18:28:49Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 23","filings_12m":23,"filings_prev_12m":15,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":157500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":5}],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":106,"reasons":["conf:3","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":164300,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/psiquantum-photonics-layout-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/psiquantum-photonics-layout-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-28T17:41:24Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":24121,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-29T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1616},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1616"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fpsiquantum-photonics-layout-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fpsiquantum-photonics-layout-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fpsiquantum-photonics-layout-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/psiquantum-photonics-layout-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fpsiquantum-photonics-layout-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3286172}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"psiquantum.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3286172},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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