Senior System Integration & Optical Validation Engineer

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. Quantum 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. Our 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. That 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. PsiQuantum 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. Quantum 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. Job Summary: The Senior System Integration & Optical Validation Engineer is responsible for leading the integration, system-level verification and validation (IV&V), and operational readiness of complex photonic quantum computing systems. This role develops integration strategies, test methodologies, validation processes, and deployment procedures to ensure integrated systems meet performance, reliability, and operational requirements. Responsibilities: • Lead the integration, bring-up, verification, and validation of complex photonic, optical, electro-optical, and electronic subsystems for photonic quantum computing platforms. • Define and lead system-level integration and test strategies, including the design of experiments, to verify functionality, performance, and readiness of integrated systems using classical optical methodologies. • Develop system acceptance criteria, verification methodologies, commissioning processes, and validation roadmaps to enable consistent, repeatable deployment and product maturation. • Drive root-cause investigations and technical problem resolution through structured experimental methods, data-driven analysis, and close collaboration across Optical, Quantum, Electronics, Controls, and Test Engineering teams. • Own the development and continuous improvement of system integration and test infrastructure, including automation, laboratory instrumentation, engineering documentation, and scalable validation processes to improve efficiency, scalability, and system reliability. • Lead system installation, integration, bring-up, and operational readiness activities, including planning, execution, reporting, and technical training of engineering and operations personnel. • Provide technical leadership by establishing system integration and optical validation best practices and influencing system architecture to improve testability, deployability, manufacturability, reliability, and serviceability. • Mentor and develop engineers and technicians while fostering engineering excellence and cross-functional collaboration. Experience/Qualifications: • M.S. or Ph.D. in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Photonics, Physics, or a related technical field with 5+ years of relevant industry experience, or B.S. with 10+ years of equivalent experience. • Extensive experience integrating, validating, and deploying complex optical, photonic, or electro-optical systems, including the specification, selection, qualification, and application of laboratory instrumentation and optical test equipment. • Demonstrated expertise in developing system-level test strategies, verification methodologies, acceptance criteria, and experimental approaches for complex integrated systems. • Strong understanding of optical technologies, including lasers, fiber optics, photonic components, optical instrumentation, and measurement techniques. • Proven ability to troubleshoot multidisciplinary optical systems using structured experimental methods, quantitative data analysis, and systematic root-cause investigation. • Experience developing automated test software, instrumentation control software, and engineering tools using Python or similar programming languages, with knowledge of Design of Experiments (DOE) and statistical data analysis. • Strong analytical, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to make sound technical decisions in fast-paced engineering environments. • Experience with cryogenic systems or quantum technologies is highly desirable. PsiQuantum 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. Note: 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 to recruiting@psiquantum.com. We are not accepting unsolicited resumes from employment agencies.