Senior Quantum Scientist

About IonQ:

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.

We are looking for a Senior Staff Quantum Scientist to join our Science team  this role, you will take a leading role in our research efforts, driving experimental efforts and the architecture of our future generation quantum systems.

We are pioneering advancements in quantum computing by utilising trapped ion technology and our proprietary laser-free quantum control methods. Our research and development efforts build on our fully integrated quantum processors that can be fabricated within standard silicon foundries. This unique approach allows us to leverage the highest-performing qubit technology while ensuring scalability and manufacturability using existing semiconductor fabrication technology.

We approach quantum computing with a focus on minimising errors, striving to achieve ultra-low gate errors  immediate objective is to develop functional quantum computers within the NISQ regime, aiming to construct fault-tolerant machines that require minimal QEC overhead. Our recent breakthroughs include achieving 99.97% fidelity in two-qubit gates and 99.9992% fidelity in single-qubit operations without error correction, setting new industry standards for performance.

As a Senior Staff Quantum Scientist you will be at the forefront of our research and development, taking a leading role within our experimental science team. You will be responsible for driving innovation in coherent control, calibration, and benchmarking at scale, with a particular focus on enabling ultra-low error rates and system reliability across larger trapped-ion devices.

You will work hands-on with our current hardware, with work spanning design, debugging, and executing experiments, developing novel control schemes, and pushing the boundaries of system performance.

Beyond hands-on experiments, you will help shape technical direction, mentor junior scientists, and ensure our work translates into scalable, fault-tolerant systems.

• Lead the prototyping and characterisation of advanced coherent control schemes for trapped-ion qubits using laser and microwave fields.
• Drive system-level benchmarking and optimisation, ensuring near-term devices achieve world-leading performance and stability.
• Validate and integrate new trap technologies (e.g. on-chip electronics or photonics) to support scaling towards error-corrected architectures.
• Guide junior scientists in experimental design, analysis, and presentation of results.
• Represent IonQ at conferences and external collaborations.

To be successful, you will need a strong foundation in atomic or…