Staff Quantum Algorithm Engineer — Chicago

Introduction

At IBM Quantum, our mission is to bring useful quantum computing to the world. IBM brings the most performant quantum computers and enables the quantum community to develop early quantum computing use cases with the Qiskit software stack. Today, our IBM Quantum Network comprises 275 Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, national laboratories, and startups, all striving toward the common goal of extracting value from quantum computers. IBM is driving this technology forward along an ambitious roadmap aimed at demonstrating quantum advantage by end of 2026, delivering the first fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029. We hope you'll join us on this mission.

Your Role And Responsibilities

About the Role

We are seeking a passionate and technically skilled Quantum Algorithm Engineer to join our team and enable a vibrant ecosystem around our quantum computing platform. This role sits at the intersection of engineering, education, and community engagement—ideal for someone who thrives on explaining complex concepts, supporting developers, and accelerating adoption of quantum computing. As a Quantum Algorithm Engineer at IBM, you will be responsible for working with partners in the IBM Quantum network to get the most out of our quantum computers, both dedicated and on the cloud systems, directly impacting the path towards quantum advantage. This work is grounded in quantum-centric supercomputing, where quantum and classical resources are seamlessly integrated to solve problems beyond the reach of either alone. You’ll represent the voice of users internally and bring the company’s latest capabilities to the world through workshops, events, tutorials, code, and more. You must be passionate not only for technology but also for connecting people and seeing individuals grow within our community. The ideal candidate must also possess communication skills appropriate for engaging scientists and developers while teaching complex concepts to a technical audience. You will liaise with numerous internal and external stakeholders and tackle complex problems which will often involve several teams, while still being able to operate independently to prioritize tasks effectively.

Key Responsibilities

Your responsibilities include

• Working with researchers and engineers across the IBM Quantum Network (IQN) to understand, analyze and optimize quantum computing performance with state-of-the-art hardware and software.
• Working closely with the software development and product teams in new capability testing to expand IBM Quantum’s software tools and capabilities. This includes i) providing feedback on early internal prototypes, and ii) identifying (client-related) gaps in existing software and engaging with Product and leaders to address them.
• Implementing production-quality software across IBM Quantum’s software stack
• Maintaining up-to-date technical skills and knowledge of latest developments in quantum computing and related fields.
• Deliver technical lectures for a wide audience, ranging from beginners to experts.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to define and achieve goals.
• Drive strategic direction for technical content creation and identifying high-impact research demonstrations
  
  

Preferred Education

Doctorate Degree

Required Qualification

Required technical and professional expertise

• MSc. in Physics, Computer Science, Computational Science, or equivalent experience
• 5 years of experience in quantum computing, running near-term algorithms in quantum hardware.
• Excellent programming skills in Python and Qiskit.
• Deep understanding of quantum computing architecture, both in software, middleware and hardware.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills to identify, diagnose and address challenges.
• Project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Proven experience analyzing, modeling and tuning quantum hardware performance, including (but not limited to) transpilation, error suppression and mitigation techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to operate at a strategic level, including setting direction, influencing stakeholders, and translating ambiguous goals into actionable plans.
  
  

Preferred Qualification

Preferred technical and professional experience

• PhD. in Physics, Computer Science, Computational Science, or equivalent experience
• Understanding of quantum system benchmarking techniques and trade-offs across different hardware architectures.
• Strong fundamentals in quantum algorithms across different application domains, particularly those that are feasible for near term implementation
• Proven experience with real quantum processors, and system-level performance modelling
• HPC programming experience and understanding of the integration between quantum and classical compute capabilities
• Software development skills (e.g. documentation, debugging, data structures, design patters, software testing, CI/CD, agile frameworks, open source).
• Demonstrated experience collaborating across team such as product and sales teams.
• Experience in external/interdisciplinary research collaborations
• Experience in customer-facing and/or client support roles.
• Experience leading or shaping strategic programs (e.g., educational content pipelines or research partnership initiatives) with measurable impact across teams or organizations.
• Strong programming skills in C, C , or Rust are a plus