Senior Software Engineer, Back-end (Boulder Opal)

About the team

At Q-CTRL, Quantum Computing Engineering is a global team of software engineers and infrastructure experts,combining deep technical expertise with a startup mindset to deliver real impact through software innovation. Our work is underpinned by robust standards, and by embracing the three virtues. Our team excels in areas across back-end, front-end, machine learning, and platform engineering.

We transform Q-CTRL's world-leading technological breakthroughs into commercial software products with applications across defense, research, and industry. We work closely with Product, Design, and Research teams to accelerate the path to quantum advantage worldwide.

What you'll be doing:

• Build impactful systems: Design, develop, and optimize scalable backend applications in Python that power real-world quantum technology.
• Engineer for performance: Create high-efficiency service-to-service communication using modern protocols.
• Bridge science and engineering: Work hand-in-hand with researchers to translate cutting-edge research code into production-ready solutions, while sharing engineering best practices.
• Deliver end-to-end solutions: Partner with product, frontend, and infrastructure teams to ship integrated features used across Q-CTRL's products.
• Shape reusable architectures: Develop product features that promote flexibility, reuse, and scalability across multiple business cases.
• Other duties within the Employee's skills and experience, or with reasonable training.

Ideally you'll have:

• 5+ years of backend engineering experience with Python, Rust, C++, or similar.
• A track record of collaborating across research and engineering to solve hard technical challenges.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a proactive, ownership-driven mindset.
• Experience designing and implementing efficient algorithms, statistical models, or large-scale data pipelines.

Bonus points (not essential, but exciting if you bring them!):

• Hands-on experience with modern APIs (gRPC, GraphQL, REST).
• Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and infrastructure management.
• Familiarity with Python web frameworks like Django, Flask, or FastAPI.
• Proficiency with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, CircleCI) and container orchestration tools like Kubernetes.
• Hands-on experience in observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Tempo, AWS CloudWatch) for monitoring metrics, traces, and logs.
• Exposure in data orchestration and warehousing (e.g., Airflow, Snowflake, dbt, or comparable platforms)

Salary

The targeted base salary range for this position is between $135,000 - $210,000 and will ultimately be determined by specific job-related skills, experience, level, location and other contributing factors. Depending on the position offered, this role may be eligible for annual discretionary bonuses, equity and other forms of compensation outside of the targeted base salary range. For more information on benefits at Q-CTRL, please visit our careers page at

Should you have any questions related to the compensation package, please speak directly with the Talent Acquisition representative.

About Q-CTRL

Q-CTRL is the global leader in AI-powered quantum control infrastructure software. We build the tools that make quantum technology useful, solving the hardest challenges in quantum computing and quantum sensing to deliver real-world impact.

Founded in 2017, we operate globally with offices in Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, and Oxford. Our teams bring together technical and multi-disciplinary expertise across the product lifecycle, and we're hiring talent to help scale every part of the business. We work quickly to turn cutting-edge science into deployable technology.

In 2024 we raised US$113 million in Series B funding, the largest aggregate investment for a quantum software company. Six months later we delivered the first commercial quantum advantage with Ironstone Opal, our field-validated quantum navigation solution for defense and industry.

At Q-CTRL, we prioritize outcomes over hours. We offer flexibility, equity potential, and competitive benefits that reflect our high-performance culture. If you're ready to help shape the future of quantum, we'd love to hear from you!

Qualified applications with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.

Please be advised that our communications will only come from the @q-ctrl.com domain. All our active job postings are available on our company website.

To recruitment agencies, we do not accept unsolicited branded profiles and are not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.