Staff Software Engineer, Runtime

About the company: the company, Inc. is the world’s leading quantum platform and merchant supplier - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. The company’s newest generation of quantum computers, the Tempo, is the latest in a line of cutting‑edge systems that have been helping customers and partners achieve 20x performance results and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance. Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, the company has operations in various locations including Canada and the United Kingdom.

Location: This role is based at our Oxford, England (UK) office, with the option to work a few days a week remotely. Travel: Up to 5%. Job ID: 1830

The Role: We are looking for a senior Systems Software Engineer to join our Runtime Software team at Oxford Ionics. In this role, you will be responsible for working directly with the experimental scientists to implement the real‑time control system behaviours and provide abstractions they require for their experiments, contributing to the team’s mission of enabling our science teams to experiment and improve the primitive operations which allow compute, and building towards fault tolerant computation. You’ll play an important part in shaping the core Rust libraries and the execution environment which take our system from a collection of hardware to a quantum computer.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborating with scientists to understand their requirements.
• Interfacing with system orchestration, non-realtime control and compiler teams to ensure our work integrates seamlessly with the wider software architecture.
• Interfacing with FPGA and electronics teams to shape the overall system architecture.
• Implementing drivers for various real‑time devices.
• Producing tooling to enable users of our code to iterate rapidly and fearlessly.
• Developing the execution environment for the user programs which run on our systems.

Requirements: To be successful, you will need strong programming skills in a systems programming language, experience with software system design, and a desire to produce high quality code appropriate to a real‑time environment. We’re looking for someone who can quickly iterate on low-level code in a collaborative, cross‑disciplinary environment and contribute effectively within a fast moving, highly technical team.

• Have strong programming skills in one or more mainstream programming languages.
• Have experience with a systems programming language.
• Have experience with real‑time Linux or embedded systems or another low‑latency computing environment.
• Have an interest in or experience with Rust.
• Have developed excellent communication skills both within the context of software and across disciplines.
• Are comfortable working with rapidly evolving requirements.
• Are used to maintaining and producing high quality code reviews and appropriate testing.
• Have a desire to maximise impact through quick iteration and short cycles of learning and improvement.
• Are eager to learn and develop your skills.

Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location, and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity. Our benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, matching 401(k), unlimited PTO and paid holidays, parental/adoption leave, legal insurance, and a home technology stipend.

At the company, we believe in fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all while striving to identify and eliminate barriers. We empower employees to thrive by fostering a culture of autonomy, productivity, and respect. We are dedicated to creating an environment where individuals can feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued. We are committed to equity and justice.

We welcome different voices and viewpoints and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.