Job Description
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: 1790
The Role:
We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our Release Engineering. As a Senior Software Engineer, 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 be responsible for defining and automating the end-to-end software release process for our quantum computing systems — including how individually built software and firmware components come together into an integrated, deployable release. You will also establish the standards and interfaces that govern how component teams contribute their artifacts to that release, and build the foundational release infrastructure that will support multiple generations of our cutting-edge quantum operating system across product lines. The ideal candidate is a systems-minded engineer who is energized by bringing clarity and rigor to complex multi-team release processes and who can both define standards and implement them in code.
Responsibilities:
- Define and automate the end-to-end release process: assembling individually built software and firmware components into a versioned, integrated release, and promoting it through defined release stages with explicit entry criteria at each stage.
- Define and publish the standards that govern how component teams version, package, and qualify their artifacts for inclusion in the integrated release.
- Evolve the software release process from its current semi-automated state into a push-button workflow, reducing release time to improve developer efficiency.
- Establish a comprehensive release manifest mechanism to ensure that system components and versions are authoritatively documented and queryable.
- Design and implement the underlying release infrastructure that supports multiple generations of our quantum operating system across product lines.
- Partner with component teams to bring their artifacts into a coherent, auditable, end-to-end release model.
- Support customer system builds through automated release deployment and ongoing troubleshooting support.
Requirements:
- 8+ years of professional experience in release engineering, build engineering, or a closely related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
- Demonstrated hands-on ownership of release automation, artifact management, and version control strategy in a multi-team environment.
- Experience with artifact repositories and promotion workflows (Artifactory, GitHub Packages, or equivalent).
- Strong CI/CD experience and comfort designing, building, and maintaining release pipelines.
- Demonstrated ability to define standards and drive their adoption across multiple component teams.
- Excellent written communication skills; this role involves significant documentation and cross-team alignment on what “release” means.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience releasing software for specialized hardware platforms or scientific instruments.
- Experience supporting multiple product variants or product generations from a shared codebase or shared release infrastructure.
- Familiarity with FPGA firmware versioning as a first-class element of a broader software release.
- Background working with private artifact repositories and the establishment of new publishing workflows.
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!
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Job Details
- Category
- Software
- Employment Type
- Contract
- Location
- Bothell, WA (Hybrid)
- Posted
- Compensation
- $145,920 - $209,241 per year
About IonQ
IonQ is a leader in quantum computing, building the world's most powerful trapped-ion quantum computers. Their systems are available via major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and power applications in chemistry, finance, machine learning, and logistics.
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