Principal ML Systems Engineer – AI for Quantum

Posted 8 Days Ago
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Milpitas, CA, USA
In-Office
220K-245K Annually
Senior level
Hardware • Manufacturing
The Role
Develop ML systems for quantum computing, including large-scale training, optimizing GPU kernels, collaborating on data representation, and driving best practices in ML experimentation.
Summary Generated by Built In

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. 

In 2024, PsiQuantum announced government-funded projects to support the build-out of our first utility-scale quantum computers in Brisbane, Australia, and Chicago, Illinois. These initiatives reflect a growing recognition that quantum computing will be strategically and economically defining—and that now is the time to scale. 

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 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 have a clear path to make it real. 

Come join us. 

Job Summary:

The Quantum Architecture Software team at PsiQuantum builds the core software and data systems that underpin the study and simulation of quantum computer architectures and the AI infrastructure and applied systems that accelerate the development of fault-tolerant photonic quantum computers. We sit at the intersection of machine learning, quantum architecture research, and autonomous systems; developing the tools, models, and agent frameworks that let quantum architects move faster and think more clearly.

Our work within the AI for Quantum initiative spans three interrelated areas: training and deploying ML models that operate directly on quantum systems (decoders, scorers, and RL agents for architectural optimization); building scientific agent systems that augment human researchers in exploring large, complex design spaces; and enabling AI-driven control, test, and validation infrastructure for quantum hardware, software, and systems. The team is small, cross-domain, and R&D-oriented. We build things that don't exist yet.

Responsibilities:

  • Develop large-scale pretraining, fine tuning and inference efforts for models used in QEC and related classical control problems.
  • Design, implement, and optimize GPU/CUDA/C++ kernels and distributed training pipelines for high-performance model development.
  • Collaborate with physicists and engineers to translate quantum phenomena and simulation outputs into ML-relevant data representations.
  • Prototype and evaluate new ML architectures for solving QEC-related classical control problems.
  • Work closely with infrastructure teams to ensure seamless integration of ML components into existing quantum computation pipelines.
  • Drive best practices in ML experimentation, data curation, and reproducible research within the team. 

Experience/Qualifications

Required skills and experiences:

  • Python, with strong software engineering fundamentals
  • PyTorch — training, fine-tuning, and deploying models in production
  • Distributed training on GPU clusters (multi-node, NCCL, Slurm or equivalent)
  • GPU kernel development — CUDA, ROCm, or Triton; sufficient depth to debug performance and understand memory hierarchy
  • AI/ML infrastructure: experiment tracking, model serving, data pipelines
  • Experience building or operating autonomous or agentic AI systems

Nice to Haves:

  • Familiarity with quantum computing or quantum error correction
  • Experience in other AI for Science domains (materials, biology, physics simulation)
  • Multi-agent system design or orchestration frameworks
  • Rust or systems programming experience
  • Reinforcement learning, particularly in combinatorial or physical design spaces
  • Hardware-adjacent software: FPGA toolchains, embedded control, low-latency inference

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 [email protected].

We are not accepting unsolicited resumes from employment agencies.

The ranges below reflect the target ranges for a new hire base salary. One is for the Bay Area (within 50 miles of HQ, Palo Alto), the second one (if applicable) is for elsewhere in the US (beyond 50 miles of HQ, Palo Alto). If there is only one range, it is for the specific location of where the position will be located. Actual compensation may vary outside of these ranges and is dependent on various factors including but not limited to a candidate's qualifications including relevant education and training, competencies, experience, geographic location, and business needs. Base pay is only one part of the total compensation package. Full time roles are eligible for equity and benefits. Base pay is subject to change and may be modified in the future.

U.S. Base Pay Range
$220,000$245,000 USD
Bay Area Pay Range
$250,000$275,000 USD

Top Skills

Cuda
Gpu
Nccl
Python
PyTorch
Rust
Slurm
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The Company
HQ: Palo Alto, California
265 Employees
Year Founded: 2015

What We Do

Quantum computing will be a world-changing technology with the potential to unlock powerful advances in medicine, energy, finance and beyond. At PsiQuantum, we’re focused on building the world’s first useful quantum computer. A useful quantum computer requires at least 1,000,000 qubits and error correction. We believe photonics is the only path to building a useful quantum computer. Our team at PsiQuantum is a mix of quantum physicists, semiconductor, systems, and software engineers, system architects and more. Error correction is at the centre of everything we do; and we focus on solving real-world problems. If you’re interested in joining our team, we are always open to hearing from exceptional people interested in working on one of the defining technologies of our lifetime.

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