Senior System Design Engineer

Job Title

Senior System Design Engineer

Role Summary

Hands-on engineering role on the System Design team to drive design, development, and qualification of electro-optic boxes that meet system architecture specifications. Collaborate cross-functionally with photonics, thermal, build, validation, and controls teams to deliver production-ready hardware.

PsiQuantum's mission is to build million‑qubit quantum computers using silicon photonics.

Experience Level

Senior — requires 5+ years of relevant industry experience.

Responsibilities

The role combines technical design leadership and technical program management to deliver working box designs and system integrations.

• Define box design requirements to meet System Architecture specifications.
• Lead design, development, qualification, and handoff of electro-optic boxes.
• Serve as box design lead and technical program manager to coordinate cross-functional execution.
• Develop and maintain detailed understanding of PIC and EIC functionality, thermal constraints, and fiber-network requirements.
• Define test specifications and collaborate with Build Process and Validation teams.
• Develop Python scripts and call controls software APIs/drivers to operate lab equipment and proprietary systems.
• Integrate products into complex systems and support transition to production.
• Adapt to new challenges and perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Key required skills and experience; preferred items listed separately.

Must-have:

• 5+ years industry experience designing, validating, and testing electro-optic systems.
• Proven track record delivering electro-optic products to production and integrating them into complex systems.
• Experience designing fiber optic systems and working with photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and fiber networking.
• Experience with optical test equipment (power meters, optical backscatter reflectometers (OBR), optical spectrum analyzers (OSA)).
• Python scripting and experience interacting with controls software APIs/drivers to control lab equipment.
• Strong organizational skills, clear communication, attention to detail, and ability to multitask.
• Strong analytical and creative problem-solving; ability to work independently with limited direction.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with vacuum systems.
• Experience with optical simulations.

Education Requirements

M.S. or PhD in Physics, Optical Engineering, or Electrical Engineering is specified in the posting. The posting pairs these degrees with a requirement of 5+ years of industry experience.

About the Company

Company: PsiQuantum

Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA, United States

PsiQuantum develops silicon-photonic quantum computers aimed at building million-qubit, fault-tolerant systems. Founded in 2016, the company combines semiconductor manufacturing processes, photonic hardware, and quantum software to scale quantum systems for commercial and government applications.