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Principal Photonic Device Design Engineer

IonQ · Santa Barbara, California, United States · On-site

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About IonQ

IonQ delivers trapped ion quantum computing systems, cloud access, and enterprise solutions for real-world quantum applications. Backed by NEA, SoftBank VF and GV.

About the role

We are seeking a Principal Photonic Device Design Engineer to join our integrated photonics team. In this role, you will serve as a technical leader for the design and development of semiconductor lasers and other active photonic devices for heterogeneous integrated platforms supporting scalable quantum and classical systems.

What they're looking for

  • Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Optics, Photonics, Materials Science, or a related field and 5+ years of experience, or 8+ years of relevant industry experience
  • Deep expertise in semiconductor lasers, III-V photonics, integrated photonics, or heterogeneous photonic integration
  • Demonstrated success developing active photonic devices through multiple design, fabrication, and characterization cycles
  • Extensive experience with photonic-device modeling, simulation, mask layout, fabrication, and design verification
  • Strong understanding of semiconductor laser physics, III-V materials, epitaxial structures, optical cavities, thermal behavior, and fabrication processes
  • Proven ability to define device architectures, resolve complex multidisciplinary problems, and drive technology from development through qualification or production
More about this role

IonQ, Inc . [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum platform and merchant supplier - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. IonQ’s newest generation of quantum computers, the IonQ Tempo, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners including Amazon Web Services, and AstraZeneca achieve 20x performance results and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance .

Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, IonQ has operations in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington, Italy, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our quantum computing services are available through all major cloud providers, while we also meet the needs of networking and sensing customers across land, sea, air, and space. IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before.

Travel: Less than 10%

We are seeking a Principal Photonic Device Design Engineer...

Read the full posting on IonQ's site ↗

Quantum Platform - Engineering &...

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