Staff Software Engineer PULSE

Alice & Bob is developing the first universal, fault-tolerant quantum computer to solve the world’s hardest problems.

The quantum computer we envision building is based on a new kind of superconducting qubit: the Schrödinger cat qubit 🐈‍⬛. In comparison to other superconducting platforms, cat qubits have the astonishing ability to implement quantum error correction autonomously!

We're a diverse team of 250+ brilliant minds from over 35 countries united by a single goal: to revolutionise computing with a practical fault-tolerant quantum machine. Are you ready to take on unprecedented challenges and contribute to revolutionising technology? Join us, and let's shape the future of quantum computing together!

The team

The Pulse Team is responsible for developing the low-level software stack that controls the hardware systems enabling our physicists to conduct cutting-edge quantum experiments, and eventually be at the core of our quantum computer.

About the role

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and maintaining robust, high-performance software solutions at the core of our technology. Acting as a technical leader within the team, you will drive architectural decisions, champion engineering best practices, and mentor junior engineers to support their professional growth. You will be in charge of developing the low level of our stack, as close as possible to our hardware.

Your work will be central in bridging scientific R&D, data engineering, and production-grade platform design while enabling researchers and physicists to iterate rapidly without compromising reliability.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain low-level drivers and hardware abstraction layers for control electronics — including signal generators, AWGs, digitizers, and custom FPGA-based instruments.
• Define clean hardware/software interfaces that decouple control electronics from higher-level experiment logic, enabling fast hardware iteration without breaking the software stack.
• Collaborate closely with physicists and researchers to ensure models and interfaces reflect real experimental needs and enable fast iteration.
• Drive long-term architectural strategy, technical roadmap, and cross-organizational alignment.
• Mentor teams, challenge assumptions, and lead architecture reviews across the platform department.

Requirements

• 8+ years experience designing low level software stack, close to the hardware.
• Superior engineering proficiency in Python
• Ability to define clean abstractions and synchronization mechanisms for hardware/software interaction loops — including real-time constraints, timing accuracy, and low-latency communication with control hardware.
• Hands-on experience writing drivers or low-level interfaces for hardware instruments (e.g. via VISA, SCPI, PCIe, Ethernet/UDP, or custom protocols).
• Solid understanding of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) fundamentals — sampling, filtering, modulation/demodulation, and their application to waveform generation and acquisition.
• Ability to collaborate and challenge ideas with physicists, academic-level experts, and deeply technical researchers.
• Strong technical leadership: able to influence direction, align teams, and support cross-domain decision-making.

Nice to have

• Hands-on experience with automation systems (schedulers, workflow engines, configuration graphs, data pipelines).
• Strong product mindset: ability to think about end-to-end delivery , user experience, reliability, and long-term lifecycle.
• Experience delivering a hardware-backed product (accelerators, HPC nodes, scientific instruments) to external users.

Recruitment Process

• Screening call with Doriane (30 min)
• Hiring Manager Interview (45 min)
• Technical Interview with the Team (60 min)
• Leadership Interview (30 min)
• Fit Interview (30 min)
• Reference check