Staff Scientist - QEC Theory

At OQC, we aren’t just theorising about the future; we’re building it. Born from a philosophy of bold innovation, we’ve successfully transitioned quantum computing from an academic dream into a commercial reality. The most exciting thing is that we’re just getting started and we’ve recently closed our £260 million Series C funding round – the largest fundraise ever completed by a quantum computing company in Europe.

As a Staff Scientist specialising in Quantum Error Correction (QEC) Theory, you'll help shape OQC's path towards fault-tolerant quantum computing. You'll develop hardware-aware error correction strategies that combine the unique capabilities of our multimode superconducting processors with advanced codes, decoders and fault-tolerant protocols, turning theoretical breakthroughs into practical advances in quantum hardware.

Joining our Quantum Error Correction research team, you'll be a recognised technical authority, helping define the scientific direction of OQC's error correction strategy.

You’ll work at the intersection of quantum information theory and experimental hardware, developing QEC approaches for our next-generation OQC GENESIS platform and Dimon architecture. By combining erasure detection within individual devices with error correction across multiple encoded qubits, you’ll tackle some of the most important challenges on the path to scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computing.

This is a senior individual contributor role with significant scientific autonomy and influence. You’ll take ownership of ambitious research projects, collaborate closely with experimentalists and engineers, mentor fellow scientists and help translate cutting‑edge research into the technical requirements that shape OQC's future processors.

• Develop and benchmark hardware‑aware QEC schemes that combine error detection within OQC's multimode devices with error correction across encoded qubit arrays.
• Design advanced quantum codes and decoders that exploit syndrome measurements and erasure information while accounting for imperfect detection and residual errors.
• Build and validate circuit‑level noise models alongside experimental teams, incorporating relaxation, dephasing, leakage, crosstalk and correlated errors.
• Optimise syndrome extraction, erasure‑check schedules and fault‑tolerant protocols around hardware connectivity, native operations, measurement times and decoding constraints.
• Evaluate logical memories and operations, balancing logical error rates, physical qubit overheads, execution time and classical decoding costs.
• Translate theoretical findings into quantitative hardware, control and readout requirements, collaborating with experimentalists to design and validate critical experiments.
• Lead complex scientific investigations, develop reproducible simulation and analysis tools, mentor colleagues and communicate research through publications, conferences and technical collaborations.

• A PhD in Quantum Information, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science or a related discipline, or an equivalent record of significant research experience.
• A strong track record of original contributions to quantum error correction, fault‑tolerant quantum computing or related quantum information research, demonstrated through publications, research software or other substantive outputs.
• Deep understanding of quantum information theory, including stabiliser formalism, quantum noise channels and fault‑tolerance principles.
• Expertise in topological codes, including surface or colour codes, or quantum low‑density parity‑check (qLDPC) codes.
• Experience with decoding methods for erasure and Pauli noise,…