Software Developer

About the Role

IBM Quantum's Qiskit SDK team is building the foundations of a high-performance, open, and platform-neutral quantum compiler and SDK. The long-term vision is to become the standard library and toolchain for quantum computing. Qiskit emphasizes production-grade quality and performance, offering a platform with Python and C APIs and a design that accommodates future language bindings.

You will work at the intersection of systems programming, compiler infrastructure, and open-source development, contributing to software that shapes the future of quantum computing. You will be a core contributor to the Qiskit SDK and its underlying compiler and runtime infrastructure, designing and implementing performance-critical components, evolving public APIs, and collaborating closely with researchers, product teams, and the open-source community. The role requires a strong sense of software ownership, technical rigor, and open-source best practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain core Qiskit SDK components and APIs.
• Develop high-quality, well-tested, performance-critical code, with strong attention to usability, extensibility, and backward compatibility.
• Contribute to compiler and transpilation infrastructure, including IRs, optimization passes, and compilation pipelines.
• Review and mentor contributions from internal engineers and external open-source contributors.
• Participate actively in open-source workflows, including design discussions, code reviews, documentation, and releases.
• Collaborate closely with research, HPC, hardware, and product teams, and support external users and partners.
• Debug and resolve complex issues across a large, evolving codebase.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Strong proficiency in Rust, with experience writing production-quality, performance-aware code.
• Working knowledge of Python to support Python-facing APIs and collaborate in mixed Rust/Python systems.
• Solid software engineering fundamentals, including modular design, testing, CI/CD, and maintainability.
• Experience contributing to open-source projects, including code reviews and collaborative development.

Preferred Technical & Professional Experience

• Familiarity with quantum computing and quantum SDKs (e.g., Qiskit, tket, Cirq).
• Exposure to compiler or transpiler concepts (e.g., IRs, passes, transformations).
• Experience developing Python extension modules or FFI-based integrations backed by Rust.

Qualifications

• Preferred Education: Master's Degree