Staff Engineer Firmware

About this role

<div class="content-intro"><p><strong>About IonQ:&nbsp;</strong><strong><br></strong></p> <p><u><a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fionq.com%2F&amp;esheet=54451094&amp;newsitemid=20260316477473&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=IonQ%2C+Inc&amp;index=7&amp;md5=0818ffbedc6dbad8c4d1611ac94c2a0f" target="_blank">IonQ, Inc</a></u>. [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 <u><a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fionq.com%2Fnews%2Fionq-speeds-quantum-accelerated-drug-development-application-with&amp;esheet=54451094&amp;newsitemid=20260316477473&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Amazon+Web+Services%2C&amp;index=8&amp;md5=a7f94ee9b71a392dca3cd6c413722e51" target="_blank">Amazon Web Services, </a></u><u><a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fionq.com%2Fnews%2Fionq-speeds-quantum-accelerated-drug-development-application-with&amp;esheet=54451094&amp;newsitemid=20260316477473&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=and&amp;index=9&amp;md5=2bed627b388878763f41ffe0e4edb16c" target="_blank">and </a></u><u><a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fionq.com%2Fnews%2Fionq-speeds-quantum-accelerated-drug-development-application-with&amp;esheet=54451094&amp;newsitemid=20260316477473&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=AstraZeneca&amp;index=10&amp;md5=757c1f2c2ec94cf3982700106122164f" target="_blank">AstraZeneca</a></u> 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, <u><a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fionq.com%2Fnews%2Fionq-achieves-landmark-result-setting-new-world-record-in-quantum-computing&amp;esheet=54451094&amp;newsitemid=20260316477473&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=setting+a+world+record+in+quantum+computing+performance&amp;index=11&amp;md5=32e9cb88afbd439026a352666cc72c91" target="_blank">setting a world record in quantum computing performance</a></u>.<br><br>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. &nbsp;</p></div><p><strong>About Vector Atomic</strong></p> <p>Vector Atomic, an IonQ company, is building quantum technology to transform navigation, timing, geophysical exploration, and telecommunications. Our team of engineers, scientists, software developers, and operations professionals works together to solve complex challenges and turn bold ideas into real-world solutions. We value collaboration, curiosity, and diverse perspectives, and we give every team member the opportunity to make an immediate impact while growing their skills. If you’re excited to work on breakthrough technology in a fast-paced, hands-on environment, we’d love to hear from you.</p> <p><strong><span class="EOP SCXW226857397 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}"><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none">Location: </span></span></span></strong><span class="EOP SCXW226857397 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}"><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none">This role is based onsite at our office in Pleasanton, CA.</span></span></span><strong><span class="EOP SCXW226857397 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}"><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none"><br>Travel:&nbsp;</span></span></span></strong><span class="EOP SCXW226857397 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}"><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none">Up to 5%</span></span></span><strong><span class="EOP SCXW226857397 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}"><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none"><br>Job ID: </span></span></span></strong><span class="EOP SCXW226857397 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}"><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none">1590</span></span></span><strong><br><br>The Role</strong></p> <p>As a Technical Lead for Real-Time Control Systems, you will provide the architectural vision and technical leadership necessary to build next-generation quantum instruments. You will be responsible for designing complex embedded systems on ARM SoC and ST Micro platforms, developing robust data acquisition pipelines, and implementing the control algorithms that drive precision sensing technology. This role sits at the intersection of hardware and software, requiring you to bridge the gap between physicists, electronics engineers, and firmware teams. Beyond writing production-quality code, you will serve as a mentor and strategist, driving coding standards, hardware bring-up strategies, and the continuous improvement of development infrastructure to ensure the scalability of quantum control frameworks.</p> <p><strong>Responsibilities</strong></p> <ul> <li>Technical Leadership: Provide architectural direction for real-time control systems and lead technical discussions across hardware and firmware teams.</li> <li>System Architecture: Design system controllers on ARM SoC, including user-space drivers, libraries, and reusable frameworks for quantum system control.</li> <li>Software Development: Write high-performance, production-quality code in C/C++ and Rust, establishing team-wide best practices and coding standards.</li> <li>Control Theory &amp; Implementation: Define and implement essential control algorithms, including robust control loops with reliabl