At Atom Computing, we build quantum computers using arrays of optically trapped neutral atoms that will empower customers to achieve unprecedented computational breakthroughs. Join a world-class team of scientists, engineers, and business professionals to advance the state-of-the-art in quantum computing.
Atom Computing is seeking a Senior Embedded Platform Engineer to enhance our software development workflows and maintain the critical infrastructure that powers our quantum computer. In this role, you'll focus on infrastructure engineering to support embedded systems. Our environment includes a wide variety of embedded computers, sensors and actuators, requiring innovative approaches to managing and scaling. Reporting to the Infrastructure Engineering Manager, you’ll collaborate with a talented, collegial team of engineers and physicists while making a lasting impact on the future of computing.
Due to the mix of on-prem and cloud infrastructure, this role is required to be in the office in Boulder at least 3 days per week.
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Responsibilities
- Design OTA update and configuration procedures for embedded systems.
- Develop automated management processes for first- and third-party embedded devices, including RF subsystems, lasers and cameras.
- Consult with security, design security primitives specific to on-prem hardware and embedded devices.
- Build and optimize monitoring, alerting, and performance metrics systems to support both development and production environments.
- Collaborate with engineering teams to streamline CI/CD pipelines and improve deployment efficiency.
Experience & Education
- BS or MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent on-the-job experience.
- 5+ years of post-degree professional experience maintaining large scale distributed systems.
Qualifications
- Familiarity with MicroTCA, VPX/OpenVPX, ATCA, CompactPCI Serial, PXIe, or other high-performance embedded systems form factors and interconnect standards.
- Experience with on-premise hardware services, including virtualization and containerization management solutions such as Proxmox VE, Docker and Podman.
- Experience with OTA update workflows, firmware deployment processes, and secure device update protocols.
- Experience with Yocto linux or compiling linux distributions, kernel modules, device drivers, etc.
- Solid knowledge of CI/CD pipelines using GitLab CI/CD or GitHub Actions.
- Ability to optimize and tune on-premise hardware for performance and low latency using tools such as perf, systemd-analyze, iostat, and tuning profiles.
- Proficiency in designing and implementing metrics, monitoring, and alerting pipelines using Datadog, Grafana, or other observability tools.
- Skilled in architecting infrastructure workflows with tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Helm, or Kubernetes.
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Atom Computing provides a wide variety of perks and benefits, including fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for our employees and their dependents. Additionally, we offer unlimited paid time off, 401K company matching, short- and long-term disability, FSA, dependent care benefits, and life insurance. We also offer drinks, snacks, and catered team lunches in our offices, every day!
The salary range for this position is between $140,000 - $175,000, commensurate with experience.
TECHNICAL & MARKET ANALYSIS | Appended by Quantum.Jobs
The emergence of Senior Embedded Platform Engineers specialized in on-premise hardware marks a critical transition in the quantum computing value chain from experimental laboratory setups to stable, industrial-grade operational infrastructure. As quantum systems scale toward fault tolerance, the structural requirement for high-reliability embedded control layers becomes the primary bottleneck for system uptime and reproducible computational results. This role type serves as the essential architectural bridge between high-level quantum software and the complex physical layer of sensors, actuators, and RF subsystems. By professionalizing the infrastructure management of specialized hardware, this function directly mitigates the systemic risks associated with bespoke, non-standardized experimental environments. Market signals from the Quantum Economic Development Consortium highlight that this stabilization of the control plane is a prerequisite for the commercialization of quantum-as-a-service (QaaS) and private cloud deployments. Ultimately, this expertise converts fragile experimental hardware into deterministic, high-performance computing assets capable of meeting the stringent reliability demands of global enterprise users.
The quantum computing ecosystem is currently navigating a decisive shift in its Technology Readiness Level (TRL) progression, moving from proof-of-concept hardware to integrated, full-stack systems. Within this landscape, the role of embedded platform engineering has moved from a supporting function to a central strategic dependency. The primary macro constraint facing the sector is no longer just qubit coherence, but the scalability and reliability of the classical control infrastructure required to manage those qubits. This necessitates a transition away from manually tuned lab equipment toward automated, software-defined hardware management protocols.
Infrastructure dependencies represent a high-risk area for the sector, particularly as the industry attempts to integrate quantum processors into existing high-performance computing (HPC) data centers. This integration requires a sophisticated reconciliation of on-premise hardware constraints, such as low-latency interconnect standards and high-speed data throughput, with the flexibility of modern cloud-native development workflows. The current sector-wide focus lies on bridging these classical and quantum capabilities at scale, ensuring that the control layer can handle the massive telemetry and real-time processing demands of error-corrected quantum operations.
Furthermore, the fragmentation of hardware form factors and interconnect standards poses a significant hurdle for ecosystem interoperability. As private and public funding cycles demand greater evidence of commercial utility, the ability to architect standardized, secure, and updateable embedded platforms becomes the primary mechanism for maintaining momentum. Workforce development in this niche area is critical, as it requires a rare convergence of deep-tech systems knowledge and modern DevOps practices. Organizations that successfully stabilize this architectural layer are positioned to lead the transition from experimental research to scalable, industrial-grade quantum services.
The capability architecture for this role type centers on the synchronization of low-level firmware development with high-level infrastructure-as-code (IaC) protocols. Mastery of specialized embedded form factors like MicroTCA or VPX is essential for ensuring that the physical control plane can meet the extreme performance and low-latency requirements of quantum gate operations. This requires a deep understanding of the integration points between custom RF subsystems and standardized Linux-based kernel environments, allowing for the creation of robust hardware abstraction layers.
These capabilities are fundamental to the throughput of quantum hardware organizations, as they enable the parallelization of hardware upgrades with continuous software deployment. By establishing rigorous over-the-air (OTA) update workflows and secure device primitives, this function provides the leverage needed to manage globally distributed or multi-generational system fleets. Furthermore, the implementation of advanced observability and telemetry pipelines ensures that system health is reconciled with the practical constraints of on-premise deployments. Such expertise reduces the technical debt associated with experimental scaling and is critical for ensuring the long-term maintainability of the emerging quantum infrastructure stack. - Accelerates the deterministic transition from bespoke laboratory hardware to standardized industrial quantum infrastructure
- Mitigates systemic operational risks by implementing high-reliability embedded management and secure update protocols
- Facilitates the seamless integration of quantum control systems into traditional high-performance computing environments
- Strengthens the reliability of quantum computational results through the implementation of rigorous hardware benchmarking
- Reduces iteration friction between experimental physics breakthroughs and the deployment of stable system software
- Optimizes the performance of specialized control hardware through the application of low-latency tuning profiles
- Enhances the stability of the quantum value chain by providing predictable architectural frameworks for hardware-software co-design
- Supports the scaling of quantum processor fleets by managing the complex telemetry of distributed embedded systems
- Improves the transparency of hardware performance for stakeholders through the development of sophisticated observability pipelines
- Enables the structural reproducibility of quantum experiments through the standardization of configuration and deployment workflows
- Protects capital-intensive hardware investments by ensuring alignment between physical infrastructure and modern DevOps practices
- Orchestrates the convergence of embedded systems engineering with the practical demands of secure on-premise cloud servicesIndustry Tags: Embedded Systems, Quantum Control Infrastructure, On-Premise Hardware, DevOps for Hardware, Low-Latency Systems, System Reliability Engineering, Infrastructure as Code, Quantum Scaling, Hardware Abstraction, Industrial IoT
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