Staff Scientist - Materials Science

About this role

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 at our Bothell, WA office, operating in a hybrid working model. Travel: Up to 5% Job ID: 1757

The Role:

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world's leading quantum company delivering solutions to solve the world's most complex problems. IonQ's newest generation quantum computers, IonQ Tempo and IonQ Forte Enterprise, are the latest in cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners such as Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, and NVIDIA achieve 20x performance results. The company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance in 2025.

The company is accelerating its technology roadmap and intends to deliver the world's most powerful quantum computers with 2 million qubits by 2030 to accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. IonQ's advancements in quantum networking position the company as a leader in building the quantum internet.

We are looking for a Staff Scientist, Materials Science to join the Computational Sciences team at IonQ. This is a newly formed group within Applications R&D, focused on general physics problems in condensed matter and high energy physics alongside combinatorial optimization. You will bring dedicated condensed matter and high energy physics capability into the team, working on problems that today are delivered through a borrowed virtual team drawn from across the organisation.

The work sits at the meeting point of traditional classical simulation and fault-tolerant quantum computing. We are not looking for someone who believes quantum computers will simply replace classical high performance computing. We are looking for a scientist who understands both, and who can judge where each approach earns its place. You will work independently against goals rather than under close direction, and you will help shape how IonQ tackles real scientific problems as the company moves towards fault-tolerant applications.

Responsibilities :

In this position you will lead scientific work on condensed matter and high energy physics problems, connecting them to quantum computation. On the condensed matter side this covers magnetic systems, phase transitions, spintronics, strongly correlated spin dynamics, spin liquids and high temperature superconductivity, including Fermi-Hubbard models, optical conductivity and eta pairing. On the high energy physics side it covers 2+1D systems, lattice QCD and lattice gauge theory.

A particular focus is comparing results computed on quantum computers against experimental data such as neutron scattering, using dynamical structure factors, spectral functions and spin transport. You will pair these quantum approaches with established classical simulation methods rather than treating them as alternatives.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead condensed matter and high energy physics application projects, working independently against agreed goals.

• Connect physics problems to quantum computation, selecting appropriate fault-tolerant algorithms and mapping problems onto quantum-native formulations.

• Combine classical simulation and HPC workloads with quantum methods in integrated end-to-end workflows.

• Compare computed results against experimental data, including neutron scattering observables such as dynamical structure factors and spectral functions.

• Collaborate with the fault-tolerant algorithms, quantum chemistry and software engineering teams, and contribute to publications and external technical representation.

Requirements:

To be successful you will need genuine subject matter depth in condensed matter or high energy physics, combined with a working understanding of how fault-tolerant quantum algorithms are used to solve real problems. You do not need to be an expert in fault-tolerant algorithm design; that expertise sits elsewhere in the organisation. What matters is that you know the existing methods, what they do and how they can be applied. Equally, you do not need to be a professional software engineer. Scientific programming to a level that lets you integrate tools, run them and maintain a code base is what is required. We recognise this combination is uncommon, and we are more interested in strong physics depth with a willingness to grow on the quantum algorithms side than the reverse.

You would be a great fit with:

• A doctorate in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science or a related field, with postdoctoral or industry experience. This is not a role for a recent PhD graduate; you must be able to carry research forward independently.

• Deep expertise in condensed matter or high energy physics: magnetic systems, strongly correlated materials, superconductivity, spin dynamics, Fermi-Hubbard models, lattice gauge theory or related areas.

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