Senior Software Engineer - Test Infrastructure

About IonQ: 

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum platform and merchant supplier - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. IonQ’s newest generation of quantum computers, the IonQ Tempo, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners including Amazon Web Services, and AstraZeneca achieve 20x performance results and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance.

Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, IonQ has operations in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington, Italy, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our quantum computing services are available through all major cloud providers, while we also meet the needs of networking and sensing customers across land, sea, air, and space. IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before.  

Location: This role is based out of our College Park, Boulder, CO, or Bothell, WA offices. We offer a hybrid work model, allowing for remote work a few days per week.
Travel: Up to 10%, domestic or international.
Job ID: 1791

The Role: 

We are looking for a Software Engineer - Test Infrastructure to join our Release Engineering team. You'll be part of a cross-functional team whose mission is to lead IonQ on its journey to build the world's best quantum computers to solve the world's most complex problems.

In this role, you will own the quality signal for the integrated software that runs IonQ’s quantum computers. You will design and operate the automated testing that validates complete systems — from customer-scale circuit execution to the tools used to operate and calibrate the machines — on shared test environments that are themselves real quantum computing systems. You will build the CI infrastructure that catches integration problems early, set system-level test strategy, and manage the test system fleet that makes all of this possible, partnering daily with software, hardware, and physics teams.

The ideal candidate is a curious, collaborative engineer who is drawn to hardware-software integration testing, thinks in terms of coverage and infrastructure rather than individual test cases, and is comfortable defining the right test signal for first-of-their-kind systems.

Responsibilities:

• Own end-to-end integration testing of our system software: design, develop, and maintain the automated test suites that validate complete quantum computing systems on shared test environments, including circuit execution under realistic customer workloads.
• Extend automated test coverage of operator-facing tooling and workflows, exercising the interfaces engineers and physicists use to operate and calibrate systems.
• Design, build, and operate the CI infrastructure that catches integration bugs before software is deployed onto systems, in partnership with software development teams — and keep it fast, reliable, and trusted.
• Define and evolve system-level test strategy: identify coverage gaps beyond functional job execution and build the tests and instrumentation to close them, including performance characterization and electronics-control validation where appropriate.
• Own integration-test triage and reporting: drive failures to root cause, attribute regressions to the responsible component, and deliver specific, actionable feedback to owning teams.
• Manage the lifecycle of the test system fleet across IonQ product lines: establish consistent hardware and software baselines across instances, coordinate upgrades and decommissioning with the product teams that define their requirements, and maintain an authoritative record of each system’s configuration and fitness for purpose.
• Champion testability across component teams, promoting the interfaces, test hooks, and practices that make our system software easier to validate.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of professional experience in test infrastructure, software test automation, CI engineering, or a closely related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong programming skills in Python or another general-purpose language, with experience creating test frameworks and automation tooling, not just using them.
• Hands-on background designing, operating, and scaling CI/CD systems that engineering teams depend on.
• Experience implementing system-level integration tests for complex, multi-component systems.
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop or lab-based test environments, or demonstrated aptitude for working close to physical hardware.
• Excellent debugging skills, particularly across the boundary between software and hardware.
• Strong collaboration skills; this role works closely with engineers on multiple product teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with performance testing methodology and workload characterization.
• Experience instrumenting and validating electronic control systems (e.g., capturing and asserting on signal output via oscilloscope or equivalent instrumentation).
• Experience managing test health at scale — flaky-test management, test observability, or quality metrics and dashboards.
• Familiarity with containerization and infrastructure-as-code for building reproducible test environments.
• Background in scientific or research computing environments.

The total compensation package includes base, bonus, equity, and a range of benefit options found on our career site.

If this role has a commission structure, the compensation range below just reflects the base compensation range.

Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location, and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity. Posted base salary figures are subject to change as new market data becomes available. Our benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, matching 401(k), unlimited PTO and paid holidays, parental/adoption leave, legal insurance, and a home technology stipend. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided when a candidate receives an offer of employment. 

At IonQ, we believe in fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all while striving to identify and eliminate barriers. We empower employees to thrive by fostering a culture of autonomy, productivity, and respect. We are dedicated to creating an environment where individuals can feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.
 
We are committed to equity and justice. We welcome different voices and viewpoints and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.

US Technical Jobs. The position you are applying for will require access to technology that is subject to U.S. export control and government contract restrictions.  Employment with IonQ is contingent on either verifying “U.S. Person” (e.g., U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. permanent resident, or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum) status for export controls and government contracts work, obtaining any necessary license, and/or confirming the availability of a license exception under U.S. export controls.  Please note that in the absence of confirming you are a U.S. Person for export control and government contracts work purposes, IonQ may choose not to apply for a license or decline to use a license exception (if available) for you to access export-controlled technology that may require authorization, and similarly, you may not qualify for government contracts work that requires U.S. Persons, and IonQ may decline to proceed with your application on those bases alone.  Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.  

US Non-Technical Jobs. Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum. Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.

If you are interested in being a part of our team and mission, we encourage you to apply!