Senior Quantum Field Engineer
Job description
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:
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Systems & Integration — focused on device bring-up, cryogenic hardware, qubit and fridge characterization, and cross-functional debug from cryo to deployment.
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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 up to 25% travel to customer sites.
Responsibilities
Shared 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.
Systems & Integration Track
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.
Gate Calibration & Deployment Track
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.
Required Qualifications
All candidates
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).
Systems & Integration Track additionally requires
Experience troubleshooting cryogenic microwave hardware.
Gate Calibration & Deployment Track additionally requires
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).
Nice to Have
Systems & Integration Track
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.
Gate Calibration & Deployment Track
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.
As engineering leaders, we value diversity and are committed to building a culture of inclusion to attract and engage innovative thinkers. Our technology, meant to serve all of humanity, cannot succeed if those who built it do not mirror the diversity of the communities we serve. Applications from women, minorities, and other under-represented groups are encouraged.
About Rigetti
Rigetti Computing is a pioneer in full-stack quantum computing. The company has operated quantum computers over the cloud since 2017 and serves global enterprise, government, and research clients through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services platform. The company’s proprietary quantum-classical infrastructure provides ultra-low latency integration with public and private clouds for high-performance practical quantum computing. Rigetti has developed the industry’s first multi-chip quantum processor for scalable quantum computing systems. The company designs and manufactures its chips in-house at Fab-1, the industry’s first dedicated and integrated quantum device manufacturing facility. Rigetti was founded in 2013 and today employs more than 150 people with offices in the United States, U.K., and Australia. Learn more at www.rigetti.com.
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Rigetti is committed to full compliance with applicable anti-discrimination laws. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We strive to create an inclusive work environment and will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.