Senior Quantum Field Engineer
Role Overview
As a Systems Integration Engineer on the Deployments team, you will be at the operational frontier of Rigetti's external quantum systems work - bringing processors to life at customer sites and ensuring they perform to specification in production. You will be among the first people to deploy a Rigetti system in a new environment, owning the technical work from initial bring-up through sustained cloud operation.
While this role is primarily based in the UK, it requires travel to customer sites globally to support deployment of Rigetti quantum systems. You will serve as a direct technical representative of the team, working alongside on-site personnel and translating complex experimental results into clear operational guidance for both specialist and non-specialist audiences. When not engaged with on-site deployments, you will collaborate closely with internal R&D teams to drive critical improvements to device performance and scalability.
This role has two specialization tracks. Candidates will be assessed for fit across both and placed based on experience:
Systems & Integration - focused on device bring-up, cryogenic hardware, qubit and fridge characterisation, and cross-functional debug from cryo to deployment.
Gate Calibration & Deployment - focused on 1Q/2Q gate performance, automated recalibration, production monitoring, and cloud deployment workflows.
Travel Requirements: This position requires regular travel, with an expectation of approximately 30-50% travel to customer sites.
Responsibilities
Own the technical work for your track during on-site deployments: define scope, execute experiments or calibrations, validate against specification, and document outcomes.
Debug failures and isolate root causes across hardware, software, and infrastructure; escalate findings and drive resolution cross-functionally.
Act as the primary technical point of contact for customers during on-site engagements; communicate results clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Monitor deployed systems and proactively identify and respond to regressions, drift, or outages.
Train team members and customer-side personnel on procedures, workflows, and best practices relevant to your track.
Contribute to internal tooling, documentation, and automation to improve repeatability and reduce manual effort.
Work with internal R&D teams to drive improvements to device performance at scale.
Be available for international travel up to 10-25% of the time in support of customer deployments.
Develop detailed experimental plans for each cooldown: define measurement scope, sequence, and success criteria prior to cool-down.
Characterise qubits and readout using internal tooling; validate coherence, line yield, and qubit yield against project requirements.
Debug failures and isolate root causes across hardware, fabrication, and design.
Provide remote support to on-site teams as required between deployments.
Validate single- and two-qubit gate performance against specification using standard benchmarking techniques.
Bring up and fine-tune gate calibrations on production devices; identify and resolve systematic error sources affecting 1Q and 2Q fidelity.
Maintain, monitor, and improve Rigetti's automated recalibration system for cloud-deployed processors.
Own deployment workflows for new gate calibrations: test, validate, stage, and release to production with minimal disruption to uptime.
Shared Responsibilities
Systems & Integration Track
Gate Calibration & Deployment Track
Required Qualifications
PhD in Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent degree with relevant industry or postdoctoral experience (see track requirements below).
Hands-on experience with superconducting qubit devices.
Proficiency in Python in a scientific or engineering context.
Strong systematic debugging skills: able to isolate failures across the full measurement chain (wiring, electronics, device, software).
Comfort operating in customer-facing and field environments with limited on-site infrastructure support.
Excellent written and verbal communication; able to write clear experimental reports and debrief non-specialists.
Willingness and ability to travel internationally 10-25% of the time.
MS/BS with 3+ years of relevant experience (or PhD).
Experience troubleshooting cryogenic microwave hardware.
Experience calibrating and characterising 1Q and 2Q gates on superconducting qubit devices.
Strong quantitative understanding of gate error sources: decoherence, leakage, control distortion, etc.
Experience writing high-quality code and working through formal code review (Git).
All candidates
Systems & Integration Track additionally requires
Gate Calibration & Deployment Track additionally requires
Nice to Have
Experience operating and troubleshooting dilution refrigerators.
Knowledge of common qubit failure modes and their signatures (e.g., TLS, flux noise, packaging issues).
Software development experience in a collaborative industrial setting (Git, code review, CI).
Prior experience in a customer-facing or field engineering role.
Experience with automated or scheduled recalibration systems in a production or high-uptime environment.
Familiarity with cloud deployment infrastructure (AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, Docker).
Experience with pulse-level gate optimisation (DRAG, flux pulse shaping, dynamical decoupling).
Experience supporting a rotational on-call or production-support schedule.
Prior experience in a customer-facing or field engineering role.