Senior Software Engineer

Overview

At Microsoft Quantum, we aim to empower science and scientists to solve the world's biggest problems by realizing advanced computing platforms at the intersection of high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum information technology. Microsoft Quantum will change the world of computing and help solve some of humankind's currently unsolvable problems. For more information about our team, visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/quantum.

We are seeking a highly skilled and committed Senior Software Engineer to join our team. This role is central to advancing our quantum software roadmap and requires passion in software development, cloud, AI, and quantum computing. This role is on a team charged with building a scalable commercial quantum computer, the first of its kind on the planet. This involves designing, implementing, and integrating system software that is responsible for the initialization and running of quantum components as part of a coherent engineering stack. The candidate will help in developing and implementing novel algorithms to solve a variety of computationally hard problems. This includes working on novel Quantum Error Correction techniques and dealing with a real-time quantum stack. They will also be expected to collaborate with experimentalists and hardware designers on current and future designs. Work assignments will span the breadth of software, firmware, and hardware subsystems.

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees, we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

Design and implement Microsoft Quantum software and firmware subsystems for quantum hardware.

Drives identification of dependencies and the development of design documents for a product, application, service, or platform.

Creates, implements, optimizes, debugs, refactors, and reuses code to establish and improve performance and maintainability, effectiveness, and return on investment (ROI).

Leverages subject-matter expertise of product features and partners with appropriate stakeholders (e.g., project managers) to drive a workgroups project plans, release plans, and work items.

Acts as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) and guides other engineers by developing and following the playbook, working on call to monitor system/product/service for degradation, downtime, or interruptions, alerting stakeholders about status and initiates actions to restore system/product/service for simple and complex problems when appropriate.

Proactively seeks new knowledge and adapts to new trends, technical solutions, and patterns that will improve the availability, reliability, efficiency, observability, and performance of products while also driving consistency in monitoring and operations at scale.

Other:

Embody our culture and values.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications:

• Doctorate in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Sciences, or related field AND 1+ years software industry experience, including developing commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems
• Masters Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Sciences, or related field AND 3+ years software industry experience, including developing commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems
• Bachelors Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Sciences, or related field AND 4+ years software industry experience, including developing commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems
• Equivalent experience

4+ years programming experience in related programming languages.

4+ years experience in a collaborative environment.

Other Requirements:

• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:
• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
• Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This role will require access to information that is controlled for export under export control regulations, potentially under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the EU Dual Use Regulation, and/or other export control regulations. As a condition of employment, the successful candidate will be required to provide either proof of their country of citizenship or proof of their U.S. permanent residency or other protected status (e.g., under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)) for assessment of eligibility to access the export-controlled information. To meet this legal requirement, and as a condition of employment, the successful candidate's citizenship will be verified with a valid passport. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees may verify status using other documents, where applicable.
• Ability to leverage AI tools to drive innovation and efficiency (e.g., performance modeling and analysis, research gathering, day-to-day task automation).
• Ability to work in an "AI-first" environment using modern AI tools to accelerate discovery through hardware development.

Additional or preferred qualifications:

• Doctorate in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Sciences, or related field AND 3+ years software industry experience, including developing commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems OR Masters Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Sciences, or related field AND 6+ years software industry experience, including developing commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems OR Bachelors Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Sciences, or related field AND 8+ years software industry experience, including developing commercial software, compilers, scientific computing applications, or multi-component systems OR equivalent experience
• Self-motivated with an ability to succeed in a team-oriented, fast-paced environment.
• Experience administering and developing on Windows.
• Demonstrated ability to identify problem areas, drive issues to closure and ensure solid root cause understanding.
• Capable of technical deep dives into software architectures, designs, implementations, and troubleshooting issues.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, with a solid understanding of software development and testing practices.

Quantum Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $158,400 - $258,000 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations, and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.