Quantum Optics Scientist - QPU Prototyping

About Quandela:

Quandela is a European scale-up that provides photonic quantum computers that are modular, scalable, energy-efficient, and accessible both on the cloud and on-premise.

Our team of 140 employees specialises in the development of both software and hardware solutions for a variety of quantum applications. We offer a wide range of services: from building the brightest single-photon sources, to designing algorithms for quantum computers, to providing cloud quantum computing access.

Quandela plays a pivotal role as a strategic partner in the quantum transformation of industrial sectors such as energy, finance, pharmaceuticals, and transportation. We are also esteemed collaborators within the academic and research community

About your team:

You’ll join the QPU Prototyping team, part of QPU Integration.

• In parallel with the PIC (Photonic Integrated Circuits) team, you will design, build, and experiment on Quantum Processing Units (QPUs).
• You will work hand-in-hand with the Hard/Soft Integration & Operations department, ensuring new devices move from lab prototypes to production-ready systems.
  

Why This Role Matters?

• From ideas to hardware :
  You turn hypotheses into prototypes, and prototypes into QPU modules that run.
• Scaling the roadmap :
  You shorten the path from design to stable operation. Every % of loss you cut or hour of uptime you secure brings us closer to scaling 6 → 12 → 24+ qubit systems with higher fidelity.
• Shaping the system :
  Your experiments, ground them in science, set the standards — from error budgets to control strategies and design trade-offs across the stack.

What will you do?

> Build & improve QPU modules:

1. Prototype optical modules
   Design, assemble, align, measure, stabilize — covering free-space, fiber, PICs, laser subsystems, and detection.
2. Integrate into the QPU
   Bring modules online, debug, optimize, and validate against spec. Hand over with clean procedures, test plans, and BOMs (Bill of Materials).
3. Improve performance
   Once integrated, track loss and drift, isolate noise sources, and implement fixes that hold — pushing qubit fidelity and system stability forward.

> Tools & knowledge sharing:

1. Code for the lab
   Develop pragmatic Python tools for acquisition, calibration, and analysis (scripts, utilities, quick plots) — tools your teammates actually reuse.
2. Document & collaborate
   Work full-stack with peers (optics, electronics, semiconductors, software). Leave behind clear lab notes and protocols so others can run the system without you.
   
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How You’ll Grow?

• 0–3 months: own a bench; deliver your first doc pack (procedure + checklist + Python tools), complete a characterization.
• 3–6 months: own one module from V0 to QPU integration; hit targets on loss/stability, standardize tests.
• 6-12 months: own multiple modules or a QPU area, contribute to planning, and trade-offs (Quality/Cost/Schedule).
  --> Next steps ? mentor juniors, lead projects, step into Optics Lead.
  
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What We’re Looking For ?

*Must-Have:

• Hands-on experimental optics (typically PhD or equivalent): complex design, alignment, metrology.
• Python for the lab: acquisition, calibration, analysis, plots (useful code that speeds up work).
• Documentation discipline: Feedback, procedures, test protocols.

*Important (can grow here):

• Basic electronics for the bench: safe operation, light soldering, DAQ, drivers.
• Semiconductor awareness: (quantum-dot sources, couplings, packaging)

*Bonus:

• Exposure to quantum optics (correlations/HOM), PICs, cryogenics, optimal control, or firmware/FPGA.

*Languages:

• English professional level required.
• French is a plus (peers, colleagues, partners).
  
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Examples of backgrounds we value:
For this role, we’re looking for a PhD profile with proven experience in complex optical systems — someone who can master experimental design, alignment, and measurement, and turn that expertise into reliable hardware modules.

• Experimental quantum/photonic optics scientist (PhD) eager to land hardware in a product.
• Optical/laser systems scientist/engineer with robust bench skills and pragmatic Python.
• Research-trained profile who has delivered lab modules into operational handover.

Remuneration:

• €57.5k gross — indicative entry for PhD + 1–2 years (operational on bench + Python + documentation).
• €60–65k gross — PhD + 4–5 years (leading modules/projects, allocating resources, coordinating peers, shaping roadmap impact).
  
  Profit-sharing & company savings plan, 100% health coverage (Alan), Swile meal vouchers, transport/mobility support, Gymlib
  

And above all ...

Quandela is where rigor meets vision: where experiments evolve into machines, and machines into breakthroughs.
What you create doesn’t vanish after the test — it endures in quantum processors that deliver stable qubits and enable the next generation of applications.
Above all, we seek a builder-scientist: someone who makes tomorrow’s quantum computing possible, one module at a time.