Systems Software Engineer - Runtime
About the job
- Expert programming skills in a systems programming language and the ability to produce high-quality code appropriate to a real-time environment.
- Strong programming skills in one or more mainstream programming languages.
- Experience with systems programming.
- Interest in or experience with Rust.
- Experience maintaining and producing high-quality code reviews and appropriate testing.
- Work directly with experimental scientists to implement real-time control system behaviours and provide abstractions for their experiments.
- Shape the core Rust libraries and execution environment that transform the hardware into a quantum computer.
- Develop abstractions over real-time control hardware for a control system capable of repeatedly and reproducibly driving ions with nanosecond-level precision.
- Contribute to the core execution model of the quantum computers.
- Collaborate with scientists to understand their requirements.
- Interface with system orchestration, non-real-time control, and compiler teams to integrate the work with the wider software architecture.
- Implement drivers for various real-time devices.
- Produce tooling that enables users of the code to iterate rapidly and safely.
- Develop the execution environment for user programs running on the systems.
- Continually improve the application programming interfaces used by internal users.
- Experience with Rust.
- Experience working across software and scientific disciplines.
- Comfort working with rapidly evolving requirements.
- Desire to maximize impact through quick iteration and short learning cycles.
- Eagerness to learn and develop skills.
About the company
IonQ sells quantum computing through cloud access and on-site systems that use trapped-ion qubits. Its processors, such as Forte and Tempo, are accessed by customers via cloud platforms or deployed on customer sites, and the company is expanding into quantum networking, quantum key distribution, and sensing through acquisitions and a SkyWater Technology deal. It differentiates itself with trapped-ion technology and by building a broader quantum ecosystem through strategic acquisitions and partnerships to connect devices and services beyond hardware alone. Its goal is to scale commercial quantum computing, grow revenue, and strengthen its cash position to support ongoing expansion and ecosystem development.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
College Park, Maryland
Founded
2015
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- NVIDIA selected IonQ’s Superion 256 for its Accelerated Quantum Research Center.
- Florida International University ordered a Superion 256 system for late 2027 campus installation.
- IonQ raised 2026 revenue guidance to $280 million-$290 million after record Q2 results.
What critics are saying
- FTC warned July 31, 2026 SkyWater integration could foreclose rival foundry access.
- Scott+Scott and Wolfpack Research targeted IonQ in 2026 over Pentagon contract disclosures.
- Quantum commercialization still depends on 2027 deliveries; execution slip would crush the valuation premium.
What makes IonQ unique
- IonQ’s trapped-ion systems posted 287% Q2 2026 revenue growth.
- Superion 256 adds integrated electronic qubit control for 2027 customer deployments.
- IonQ controls hardware, networking, and foundry capacity after SkyWater closing on July 31, 2026.
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Benefits
Biweekly catered lunches
Parental leave
Health, vision, & dental insurance
Flexible time off
401(k) with 5% match
University facilities
Commuter benefits
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
15%1 year growth
3%2 year growth
0%IONQ's quarterly revenue is close to overtaking Innodata's, as the quantum computing company grows far faster than the artificial intelligence data firm. IONQ earned $80.0 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up from $12.4 million in the quarter ended September 30, 2024. Innodata took in $92.1 million, up from $52.2 million. Innodata's growth has slowed in 2026. Leadership changes in its chief executive officer and chief financial officer roles have also weighed on the stock, which is down about 35% over the past 12 months. IONQ has agreed to acquire an enterprise security infrastructure company in an all-stock deal valued at $1.3 billion. It also reached the final round of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative on October 7.
IonQ agreed to buy Elisity, a zero-trust security software maker, in an all-stock deal valued at up to $1.3 billion. The company's shares fell 9.07% to $36.27 on October 12, wiping about $1.44 billion off its market value. Quantum peers also slid. The price includes up to $150 million in earnouts tied to Elisity's performance. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval. The share count depends on IonQ's 20-trading-day average price before closing, within a $33.07 to $49.61 collar. At the October 12 close, the deal equals about 35.8 million shares, roughly 9% on top of 397.30 million outstanding. IonQ said Elisity has doubled revenue and customers year over year, with more than 100 deployments, but gave no revenue figure.
Business services stocks have gained 19.6% over the past six months, 6.1 percentage points ahead of the S&P 500, according to StockStory. It names two stocks to watch and one to avoid, warning that the sector is sensitive to the wider economy. Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI), valued at $73.86 billion, grew revenue 9.2% annually over five years. Its free cash flow margin is 18.9%, and its shares trade at $447.72, or 24.5x forward earnings. IonQ (NYSE:IONQ), a quantum computing company worth $14.41 billion, grew revenue 181% annually over two years. Projected growth for the next 12 months is 166%, and shares trade at $36.28. The stock to avoid is Verisk (NASDAQ:VRSK), worth $23.1 billion. Its revenue grew just 1.7% annually over five years, and earnings per share rose 8% annually over two years.
IonQ has agreed to buy Elisity for as much as $1.3 billion in an all-stock deal. The quantum computing firm wants to expand its cybersecurity platform. The expanded platform is meant to protect against threats assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging quantum threats.
Alphabet is positioned as the best quantum computing investment for long-term investors, according to a new analysis, despite IonQ and D-Wave Quantum gaining attention in the space. While IonQ and D-Wave show impressive growth — IonQ's Q2 revenue jumped 287% to $80 million — both remain unprofitable and require heavy spending on research and development. IonQ posted a $120 million adjusted EBITDA loss in the quarter. Alphabet's Google Quantum AI recently achieved a breakthrough with its Willow chip, which completed a computation in under five minutes that would take current supercomputers 10 septillion years. The chip also demonstrated declining error rates as qubits increase, a critical step toward scalable quantum computing. Unlike pure-play quantum companies, Alphabet doesn't depend on quantum computing for its valuation. The company trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio around 29 and could integrate quantum capabilities into its existing cloud and AI infrastructure.