Software Engineer, Systems Engineer, AI Engineer

Overview

Salary: £56,509 (Band E S1) gross per annum
Contract Type: Up to 2x permanent position
Hours: Full Time (We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants)
Location: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire, UK

Due to the requirement for obtaining an enhanced security clearance for this role, we are only able to accept applications from individuals who have been resident in the UK for the last five years.

Come and do the kind of engineering that made you want to be an engineer. Stretch your technical skills while building human understanding. Promote sustainability and create new materials. And, alongside world-leading scientists, technicians and technologists, shape projects that improve lives and daily life, in the UK and far beyond.

Put simply, come and discover the impact you can make when you’re equipped, encouraged, and inspired to perform to your very best.

The National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) is the UK’s national laboratory dedicated to accelerating the development and adoption of quantum computing. Headquartered at the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire, the NQCC works across government, industry, and academia to address the engineering challenges of scaling quantum computers and to build a quantum-ready economy. Its mission is to enable the UK to solve complex societal and industrial challenges by harnessing the transformative potential of quantum computing.

The NQCC is a joint initiative of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It sits alongside other departments within the STFC National Laboratories and is part of the wider National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP).

Our Benefits include a flexible working scheme (subject to business requirements), defined benefit pension scheme, and 30 days annual leave allowance plus 10.5 bank holiday/privilege days and several other benefits.

We are looking for 2 Software Engineers to join the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC). You will be working alongside scientists, engineers, developers, and experts in quantum technologies, working to enhance the UK’s quantum computing capabilities. Reporting into the Software and Control Systems Group, the Software Engineer is essential to the delivery of our ambitious technology roadmap for supporting quantum computing for the UK.

The Software and Control Systems Group maintains software ranging from the control of quantum computing hardware to providing quantum programming platforms for application engineers.

Our core .NET (C#) platform provides a flexible architecture allowing components to be selected at runtime to form application-specific tool chains. Components span a variety of programming languages (C#, C++, Python) and include:

• Hardware-aware compilation for an in-house quantum system.
• Optimisation of Quantum programming languages.
• Hybrid Quantum/Classical algorithms.
• Quantum Emulation on our in-house HPC cluster.
• Extension points for integrating with third-party tools and web-based Quantum platforms.
• Data analysis and monitoring.

Our Agile process encourages hands-on experience across the full quantum stack. We are building a new team to research and implement a compiler and runtime focused on superconducting qubits. We have 2 positions available to support this: a Compiler Engineer and a Research Software Engineer.

Not only is this an exciting role at the forefront of science and technology, but the candidate will also gain excellent experience in large-scale systems integration across a variety of collaborations in the quantum computing ecosystem.

These roles require someone who can work well as part of a multidisciplinary team, but also demonstrate autonomy within their area of responsibility. You will be proactive, self-motivated, and able to work in a dynamic environment. You will exhibit a pragmatic attitude towards the work of others, particularly in a collaborative environment, whilst having a good eye for detail, interpreting and presenting technical performance…