Zurich Instruments is a technology leader in advanced control electronics for quantum computing. Our products are used by scientists and leading high-tech companies worldwide. We help advance science and build the next generation of quantum computers.
Do you want to join our team developing control software for scaling quantum computers? Are you eager to lead a team of software developers, to improve user experience, automation, and AI-assisted workflows for quantum computing?
We are looking for a leader for our Quantum Software Applications team.
You'll be based in Munich to closely interact with customers and collaboration partners. Through regular travel to Zurich you are connected with the wider engineering team
Zurich Instruments is part of the Rohde & Schwarz Group.
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Your responsibilities
- Lead a quantum software team focusing on user-facing functionality and collaboration with industrial and academic partners.
- Drive all aspects of people development in close collaboration with our HR team.
- Enhance LabOne Q to elevate the user experience for our customers operating Quantum Processing Units (QPUs).
- Own the design of LabOne Q's user-facing APIs and abstractions, ensuring a consistent design language across all abstraction levels.
- Own delivery of features for LabOne Q encompassing concept, implementation, testing, and documentation.
- Collaborate with peers in R&D and product management on architecture, interfaces, and feature definition.
Your profile
- PhD, MSc or equivalent experience in Quantum Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or Electrical Engineering.
- At least 3 years of experience in team leadership.
- Experience with quantum computing frameworks or, alternatively with automation and workflow engines in a technical application.
- Professional track record in writing and maintaining production-grade code in Python as well as API design.
- Based in Munich, with willingness to travel to Zurich once a month.
- Hands-on background in experimental quantum computing - e.g. running experiments, managing measurement data, or automating calibration and characterization workflows (Nice-to-have)
- Experience with Rust (Nice-to-have).
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We offer a diverse work environment with an open and transparent company culture where personal development forms the basis of our success. We thrive on cooperation and support distributed decision-making that allows everyone to take responsibility and generate substantial impact from the start and on many levels.
Now is a great time to join the team.
We look forward to receiving your resume and motivation letter.
TECHNICAL & MARKET ANALYSIS | Appended by Quantum.Jobs
The emergence of leadership roles in quantum software applications marks a critical shift from basic physics experimentation to scalable system orchestration. As quantum hardware platforms expand their physical qubit counts, the primary bottleneck transitions to the software stack, where API design and hardware abstractions determine real-world utility. This function serves as the vital translation layer that makes advanced control electronics accessible to industrial users and academic researchers. By bridging abstract programming frameworks and high-fidelity hardware execution, this role mitigates the systemic ecosystem risk of vendor lock-in and toolchain fragmentation. Market analyses from the Quantum Economic Development Consortium indicate that engineering leaders who can harmonize classical software standards with quantum operations are essential for advancing Technology Readiness Levels across the sector.
The quantum application ecosystem is characterized by an acute integration challenge at the boundary between hardware control systems and high-level programming frameworks. While deep-tech funding has historically prioritized physical hardware advancements, the commercial viability of these systems depends on the availability of robust middleware and orchestration tooling. Current industry focus lies on bridging classical and quantum capabilities at scale, requiring engineering structures that support complex, multi-modal hybrid workflows.
Ecosystem reports highlight a severe talent gap at the intersection of production-grade software engineering and quantum information science. The market demands technical leaders who can enforce classical reliability, testability, and documentation standards on experimental codebase architectures. This specialization is critical for mitigating software regression risks as physical backends undergo rapid hardware upgrades and calibration adjustments.
Furthermore, public-private research partnerships and commercial consortia are increasingly demanding cross-platform interoperability. Software environments must remain flexible enough to integrate automated calibration routines while offering stable, deterministic APIs for top-layer application developers. Consequently, organizing development teams around scalable engineering abstractions is a prerequisite for achieving early fault tolerance and sustained industrial adoption.
The capability architecture for this domain relies on a dual-competency framework combining full-stack software development practices with an understanding of experimental quantum execution. Mastery of high-level programming languages like Python and system-level tools like Rust is essential for building fast, reliable interfaces that manage physical measurement data. These environments must provide clean API abstractions that insulate users from the granular complexities of physical control electronics.
These competencies directly influence developer throughput by enabling the parallel development of user-facing features and low-level hardware drivers. Implementing automated testing and validation protocols within quantum software frameworks secures the integrity of experiment code across distributed research teams. Additionally, engineering leadership at this tier ensures that development lifecycles are aligned with modern continuous integration pipelines, reducing the operational friction inherent in managing live quantum cloud infrastructure. - Accelerates the transition from experimental laboratory prototypes to scalable, industry-grade quantum software frameworks
- Minimizes integration friction between high-level application code and underlying quantum hardware control layers
- Enforces modern software engineering rigors to stabilize experimental deep-tech codebases for commercial operations
- Facilitates collaborative R\&D workflows between global industrial partners and academic research institutions
- Standardizes user-facing API designs to optimize multi-platform compatibility across distinct quantum modalities
- Mitigates technical debt by establishing consistent design languages across fragmented software abstraction layers
- Boosts developer velocity through the implementation of automated calibration and characterization workflows
- Protects intellectual capital by driving structured talent development pipelines within deep-tech organizations
- Optimizes hybrid classical-quantum data throughput by engineering robust software-hardware interface layers
- Streamlines feature delivery lifecycles by synchronizing cross-functional product and engineering roadmaps
- Enhances the reproducibility of quantum computing experiments via reliable version control and testing infrastructure
- Secures competitive advantage for Zurich Instruments within the global control electronics market ecosystemIndustry Tags: Quantum Software Engineering, Control Electronics Integration, API Design Architecture, Hybrid Quantum-Classical Workflows, Deep Tech Engineering Leadership, Software Abstraction Layers, Automated Calibration Infrastructure, Quantum Toolchain Maturity
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