Physicist, Ion Transport and Waveform Design at IonQ (Boulder, USA)
Job Description
IonQ is hiring a physicist for ion transport and waveform design in Boulder, Colorado. You will join a simulation-focused team that studies how trapped-ion qubits are moved around a chip, working closely with experimental groups to validate your simulations on real hardware.
At a glance
- Role: simulation physicist, Ion Transport and Waveform Design team
- Where: Boulder, Colorado, USA
- Pay: US$110,336–144,459 base, plus bonus and equity
- Level: PhD in atomic physics, quantum information or a related field
- Apply: open until filled (re-checked 11 October 2026)
About the ion transport physicist role
- Develop control schemes for fast, robust, low-excitation transport of ions
- Design and optimise control waveforms for loading, transport, qubit routing and gate operations
- Simulate the physics of ion chains in the RF Paul traps at the heart of IonQ’s systems
- Work with physicists and engineers to integrate ion transport into larger experiments and products
- Co-design transport operations, new trap designs and quantum error correction primitives with quantum architects
What IonQ is looking for
- A PhD in atomic physics, quantum information or a related field, with experience operating or supporting experimental hardware (or equivalent experience)
- A background in designing or operating surface-electrode RF Paul traps
- Proficiency in numerical physics simulation
- Strong communication and collaboration skills
Nice to have
- A strong grasp of the physics of ion traps: electrostatics, quantum mechanics and ion dynamics
- Scientific programming and numerical optimisation
- Experience with transport or waveform design in surface-electrode traps
- A compiled language such as Rust, C or C++ for scientific computing
Pay and location
The approximate base salary is US$110,336–144,459, with bonus and equity on top. The role is based in IonQ’s Boulder, Colorado office.
How to apply
Apply through the official IonQ job posting. IonQ’s posting does not give a closing date, so the role is open until filled. ResearchJobs.in will re-check this listing on 11 October 2026. Check the posting for location and work-authorisation details before you apply.
Looking for more roles like this? Browse our research jobs on ResearchJobs.in.
Hiring institution: IonQ
Official advertisement: job-boards.greenhouse.io
How to prepare for this interview
- Trap physics: revise the pseudopotential picture of a Paul trap, secular frequencies, micromotion and how electrode voltages shape the potential.
- Transport: be ready to discuss adiabatic versus fast (diabatic) shuttling, motional excitation, and optimal-control or shortcut-to-adiabaticity approaches.
- Numerics: expect questions on how you would simulate a multi-ion chain efficiently and verify the result.
- Show your code: bring an example of simulation or optimisation code, ideally including something in C++ or Rust.
- Hardware link: describe a time your simulation was checked against an experiment and what you learned from the mismatch.
About IonQ
IonQ, Inc. (NYSE: IONQ) builds trapped-ion quantum computers and describes itself as a quantum platform company working across computing, networking, sensing and security. It is headquartered in College Park, Maryland, with operations in several US states and in Italy, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada and the United Kingdom, and its quantum computers are available through the major cloud providers.
