Quantum Software Developer - PennyLane Core

Job Description

Job Title: Quantum Software Developer - PennyLane Core. Location: Toronto, Canada

Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain PennyLane, an open-source framework for quantum programming.
• Design, implement, and optimize core infrastructure and APIs to support increasingly complex, utility-scale quantum workflows.
• Translate theoretical breakthroughs in quantum algorithms into robust, production-grade software features;
• Collaborate with Performance, Compilation, FTQC, Architecture, and Research teams to integrate advanced execution pipelines.
• Participate in the open-source development lifecycle, including community contributions, documentation, testing, and code quality.
• Build clean, modular, maintainable software using modern engineering practices.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a closely related technical field.
• Education, training, or professional experience in quantum computing, quantum information, or a related field.
• Proven experience developing production-grade Python software.
• Experience with unit testing, continuous integration and delivery pipelines, and code review workflows;
• Hands-on experience developing or extending quantum computing libraries or machine learning frameworks such as JAX or PyTorch.
• Ability to understand complex mathematical and scientific concepts from research papers and translate them into efficient software implementations.
• Ability to learn advanced scientific and technical concepts quickly with minimal direction.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment and navigating uncertainty.

Preferred:

• MSc or PhD in Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related field, with research focused on quantum computing or quantum information.
• Experience architecting or maintaining large-scale software packages, complex APIs, or developer-facing toolkits.
• Advanced understanding of machine learning libraries and their compilation internals, including JAX and PyTorch.
• Contributions to open-source scientific libraries, quantum computing frameworks, or the PennyLane/Catalyst ecosystem.

Benefits and Compensation:

• Base salary: CAD 120,000 to CAD 160,000 per year.
• Equity eligibility.
• Employee benefits.
• Salary is determined based on location, experience, and internal benchmarks.
• Commitment to an inclusive, safe, equitable, and barrier-free workplace.

Other Information:

• Xanadu is an equal opportunity employer.
• Workplace accommodations are available during the recruitment process.
• AI tools may be used to assist with applicant screening and assessment, but final hiring decisions are made by humans.