Sr. Director of USG Partnerships & Use Case Development

Quantinuum seeking a highly strategic and technically adept Sr. Director of DOE Laboratory Partnerships to drive collaboration between our organization and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories (e.g., LBNL, LLNL, ORNL, PNNL, ANL, SNL, LANL). In this role, you will serve as the primary focus is to identify, develop, and deploy quantum computing use cases that align with the DOE’s strategic mission areas, including advanced energy technologies, national security, climate modeling, and large-scale scientific simulation. This position will help develop and demonstrate a portfolio of government-relevant applications that are scientifically relevant to DOE, solutions that will ultimately be an integral part of the DOE scientific ecosystem and will internally help direct our US based efforts in the development of applications and algorithms of our current and next generation quantum computing systems. This is a technical/business development role in a front-facing organization to help develop these partnerships.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Lab Engagement
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for DOE National Labs (e.g., ORNL, LBNL, ANL, LLNL, LANL, PNNL).
  • Build and maintain deep technical relationships with Lab Directors, Quantum Information Science (QIS) research leads, and user facility managers.
  • Navigate DOE complex ecosystems, including the National Quantum Information Science Research Centers (NQISRCs).
  • Monitor and track DOE Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), Requests for Information (RFIs), and lab call solicitations.
• Use Case Identification & Co-Development
  • Map organizational quantum hardware/software capabilities against specific DOE mission use cases (e.g., materials science, grid optimization, chemical catalysis, high-energy physics).
  • Translate complex DOE scientific requirements into actionable quantum algorithms and application roadmaps.
  • Coordinate joint research proposals, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), and Strategic Partnership Projects (SPPs).
  • Working directly with counterparts in the DOE to co-design algorithms, workflows, and capabilities
  • Report on findings and progress with key stakeholders
  • As/when appropriate, identify dual-use commercial applications

Education & Experience:

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Quantum Physics, Computer Science, Chemistry, Applied Mathematics, or a related STEM field.
• 10+ years of direct experience working with or within the DOE National Laboratory complex or a federal R&D environment.
• 10+ years of experience in quantum computing applications including but not limited to chemistry, material science, condensed matter physics, AI/ML, nuclear physics, high energy physics, plasma and fusion
• Understanding principles of error correction, quantum algorithm design, and deep understanding of fault-tolerant computation
• Experience with resource estimation for fault-tolerant algorithms and selecting appropriate algorithmic primitives and data representations
• Ability to transition algorithmic capabilities from NISQ, to partially fault tolerant, to fully fault tolerant.
• Experience optimizing algorithms across all the layers of the stack, both near term and in fault-tolerant era.
• Experience with hybrid workflows and high-performance computing, and ability to use AI to optimize workflows
• Ability to identify regimes in which the quantum algorithm offers a credible advantage over the best-known classical method
• Original contributions to algorithms such as Hamiltonian simulation, phase estimation, quantum signal processing, block encoding, state preparation, or quantum scientific computing
• Experience connecting error bounds to end-to-end scientific accuracy
• Experience leading and motivating groups of researchers with varied skills and years of experience
• Understand dual-use technologies and how to DOE and science applications can lead to commercial value