Microsoft Quantum has assembled a talented and diverse international team to create the world’s first scalable quantum computing system. The research effort includes a diverse staff of theoretical and experimental physicists, hardware designers and software engineers around the world collaborating in a very fast-paced environment, where good communication and good documentation are key to the success of the program.
This role sits on the software team building the control, measurement, and bring-up stack for Microsoft’s topological qubit chips and the broader quantum machine we are engineering. As a Senior Software Engineer (Measurement and Bring-up), you will partner closely with the Measurement team to implement the test, characterization, calibration, and tuning routines in software—shaping how the software is structured and how the instruments rack is orchestrated to deliver robust, fast, and correct execution in the lab.
This is a unique opportunity to contribute to Microsoft’s Quantum Program, dedicated to building a scalable quantum computer to tackle humanity’s most complex challenges. You’ll help make the quantum machine operable as it scales by turning characterization and bring-up needs into dependable software—connecting sophisticated instrumentation to clear, repeatable workflows that accelerate learning cycles in the lab, as well as into robust qubit chip bring-up software for the quantum machine.
At Microsoft Quantum, we aim to empower science and scientists to solve the world’s biggest problems by realizing advanced computing platforms at the intersection of high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum information technology. Microsoft Quantum will change the world of computing and help solve some of humankind’s currently unsolvable problems. For more information about our team, visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/quantum.
Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.
Role Summary
You will work closely with quantum device characterization experts, experimental physicists, and the teams building instrument racks and control infrastructure across multiple quantum labs. You will collaborate with the Measurement team to translate bring-up and tuning routines into high-quality software: aligning on APIs and abstractions, mapping requirements to the larger bring-up stack, and ensuring the instruments are used effectively to achieve repeatable, trustworthy results. You will deliver features end-to-end—implementation, testing, documentation, operationalization, and iteration based on user feedback—making pragmatic trade-offs under time pressure while maintaining code quality and long-term maintainability.
Responsibilities
Work with the Measurement team to implement and maintain measurement, characterization, and bring-up routines for qubit devices—turning experimental intent into robust, repeatable software workflows used in the lab and in the quantum machine.
Develop Python software that controls and coordinates a complex instruments rack (timing, triggering, waveform generation, acquisition, and metadata capture) to execute high-fidelity experiments reliably and safely.
Partner with scientists and engineers to translate user stories into requirements; propose designs that fit the larger bring-up architecture and iterate based on feedback from day-to-day lab usage.
Build reusable building blocks (drivers/wrappers, experiment templates, calibration primitives, analysis utilities, configuration/schema models) that enable rapid development of new routines.
Ensure measurement data is high quality and traceable: consistent metadata, validation, versioning, and reproducible analysis pipelines.
Contribute to software engineering best practices: code reviews, testing, CI/CD, packaging, documentation, and on-call/triage support as needed in a fast-moving environment.
- Troubleshoot end-to-end issues across software and hardware boundaries (instrument communications, timing, signal integrity symptoms reflected in data) and make clear trade-offs between rapid bring-up and long-term robustness.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
- Doctorate in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Sciences, or related field AND 1+ year(s) software industry experience, including research and/or development of commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems
- OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Sciences, or related field AND 3+ years software industry experience, including research and/or development of commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems
- OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Sciences, or related field AND 4+ years software industry experience, including research and/or development of commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems
- OR equivalent experience.
- 4+ years programming experience in related programming languages.
- 4+ years experience in a collaborative environment.
Other requirements
- Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:
- Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
- Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This role will require access to information that is controlled for export under export control regulations, potentially under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the EU Dual Use Regulation, and/or other export control regulations. As a condition of employment, the successful candidate will be required to provide either proof of their country of citizenship or proof of their U.S. permanent residency or other protected status (e.g., under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)) for assessment of eligibility to access the export-controlled information. To meet this legal requirement, and as a condition of employment, the successful candidate’s citizenship will be verified with a valid passport. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees may verify status using other documents, where applicable.
- Ability to leverage AI tools to drive innovation and efficiency (e.g., research gathering, day to day task automation).
Preferred Qualifications
- Doctorate in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or related field AND 2+ years software industry experience
- OR Master's Degree in a related field AND 4+ years software industry experience
- OR Bachelor's Degree in a related field AND 6+ years software industry experience
- 2+ years of prior experience building software for qubit (or closely related) test, characterization, calibration, or bring-up routines, including hands-on work with lab instrumentation and measurement workflows.
- Experience with instrumentation control and lab automation frameworks (e.g., QCoDeS or similar), including driver development and integration with vendor SDKs. Experience developing software that interacts with sophisticated hardware (instrument racks, RF/microwave equipment, digitizers, AWGs, DC sources, cryogenic/facility sensors, or similar), including debugging communications, timing/triggering, and reliability issues.
- Strong Python software engineering skills: writing maintainable, testable code; solid grasp of language idioms and the standard library; experience with the scientific Python stack (e.g., NumPy, SciPy, pandas, xarray) and typed/data-modeling approaches (e.g., pydantic). Familiarity with modern development operations and tooling such as CI&CD on platforms like GitHub and Azure DevOps, and Python tooling (pip/uv, ruff, pre-commit, packaging and dependency management).
- Experience designing experiment abstractions, configuration systems, and data/metadata schemas for traceable measurement at scale. Experience with scientific data analysis pipelines, statistical methods, optimization/fitting, and uncertainty quantification applied to device characterization.
- Experience improving engineering quality in research environments (test strategies for hardware-interfacing code, simulation/mocking of instruments, reliability engineering).
- Collaborative engineering experience working with other software developers on shared codebases: design discussions, code reviews, feature ownership, and incorporating feedback from both peers and end users. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including comfort working under time pressure and making pragmatic decisions balancing speed, quality, and robustness.
- Customer obsession: demonstrated ability to distil requirements from user stories, fit requests into a larger architecture, deliver iteratively, and communicate trade-offs clearly.
- Familiarity with observability/telemetry and data platforms used for debugging large experimental systems (structured logging, time-series data, Kusto/Azure Data Explorer, or equivalent).
- Embody our Culture and Values.
#Quantum #QuantumCareers #MDQCareers
Quantum Software Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $160,200 - $261,000 per year.
Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay
This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.
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