Staff Scientist, Quantum Algorithms and Applications

Location: This role is based at our Bothell, WA office, operating in a hybrid working model.
Travel: Up to 5%
Job ID: 1757

The Role:

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world's leading quantum company delivering solutions to solve the world's most complex problems. IonQ's newest generation quantum computers, IonQ Tempo and IonQ Forte Enterprise, are the latest in cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners such as Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, and NVIDIA achieve 20x performance results. The company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance in 2025.

The company is accelerating its technology roadmap and intends to deliver the world's most powerful quantum computers with 2 million qubits by 2030 to accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. IonQ's advancements in quantum networking position the company as a leader in building the quantum internet.

We are looking for a Staff Scientist, Quantum Algorithms and Applications to join the Computational Sciences team at IonQ. This is a group within Applications R&D focused on the application of quantum algorithms to problems in condensed matter physics and high energy physics. You will bring dedicated quantum algorithms expertise as well as condensed matter and high energy physics capability into the team, applied through quantum computation on IonQ's trapped-ion systems.

The work sits at the meeting point of traditional classical theory and simulation and fault-tolerant quantum computing, and the role demands real capability in both. You will bring judgement about where each approach earns its place, working independently against goals and helping shape how IonQ tackles real scientific problems as the company moves towards fault-tolerant applications.

Responsibilities:

In this position you will lead scientific work on the design and application of quantum algorithms to condensed matter and high energy physics problems. On the condensed matter side this covers model Hamiltonians such as the Heisenberg models for strongly correlated magnetic systems and Fermi-Hubbard models for high temperature superconductivity. On the high energy physics side it covers lattice QCD and lattice gauge theory. You will be responsible for the design and implementation of near-term fault tolerant quantum algorithms such as Trotter-Suzuki methods, as well as novel error mitigation and Quantum Error Detection (QED) methods on IonQ's trapped-ion hardware. You will also conduct research into the design and application of fault tolerant algorithms such as novel block encoding methods, QSVT and QPE in condensed matter and high energy physics, working alongside other fault tolerant algorithms experts, compiler teams and QEC teams to codesign these algorithms with future IonQ trapped-ion systems.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead condensed matter and high energy physics application projects, working independently against agreed goals.
• Design and implement novel quantum algorithms, error mitigation and error detection methods (QED), with demonstrations on near-term IonQ hardware.
• Perform codesign and resource estimation of fault-tolerant quantum algorithms alongside the compiler and QEC teams for future IonQ hardware.
• Combine classical simulation and HPC workloads with quantum methods in integrated end-to-end workflows, mapping physics problems onto quantum-native formulations.
• Collaborate with other fault-tolerant algorithms researchers and with the quantum chemistry and software engineering teams, and contribute to publications and external technical representation.

Requirements:

This role requires both halves of an uncommon combination. You will need practical experience with quantum computing and quantum algorithms applied to scientific problems and equally, genuine subject matter depth in condensed matter or high energy physics. You will be comfortable working across classical simulation and quantum methods, and using scientific programming to integrate tools, run computations and maintain a code base.

You would be a great fit with:

• A doctorate in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science or a related field, with postdoctoral or industry experience and a track record of carrying research forward independently.
• Direct experience implementing quantum algorithms on near-term quantum hardware, using error mitigation and error detection methods to improve hardware fidelity or achievable circuit depth.
• Direct experience applying quantum algorithms to scientific problems, including fault-tolerant methods such as quantum phase estimation, Hamiltonian simulation or quantum singular value transformation, and an understanding of how they map onto condensed matter and high energy physics problems.
• Deep expertise in condensed matter or high energy physics: magnetic systems, strongly correlated materials, superconductivity, spin dynamics, Fermi-Hubbard models, lattice gauge theory or related areas.
• Experience with classical simulation methods and HPC workloads for these problems, ideally including packages such as QuantumATK, QuantumEspresso or VASP, plus scientific programming in Python and C++ sufficient to integrate tools, run computations and maintain a code base in version control.

Also valuable: a peer-reviewed publication record; client or partner facing delivery experience; active participation in the fault-tolerant quantum computing community through tools, metrics, talks, repositories or patents; and familiarity with agentic AI tooling such as OpenAI Codex or Anthropic Claude Code.

The total compensation package includes base, bonus, equity, and a range of benefit options found on our career site.