Time to think
No billable hours, no quarterly performance ranking. We protect at least one day a week for deep work and expect people to use it.
Work with us
Do the work in the open.
We hire for judgment, not pedigree. We do not require a famous advisor, a first-author Nature paper, or a willingness to pretend that quantum is magic.
We are a small lab with ambitious problems, a real machine, and a stubborn commitment to sharing what we learn. If you want your name on the paper and your code in someone else's hands, read on.
01 / Open roles
Four ways in.
Senior Quantum Control Engineer Full time Pittsburgh / hybrid
You will own part of the real-time control stack that runs our superconducting processors: FPGA firmware, pulse sequencing, calibration automation, and the timing budgets that hold the whole thing together.
We are looking for an engineer who has shipped a control system that other people depend on, and who can debug a bad experiment at 2 am without pretending the problem is mysterious. Experience with superconducting qubits is welcome but not required; experience with hard real-time systems is.
What you'll do
- Design and maintain FPGA-based control and readout firmware
- Improve calibration automation and observability across two processors
- Work with the error-correction group on decoder latency
- Mentor one junior engineer and review code like a colleague
What we're looking for
- 5+ years building real-time or embedded systems
- Fluency in Verilog or VHDL, plus Python or Rust
- A track record of shipping maintainable technical work
- Willingness to document decisions and teach
We encourage applications from people without a traditional academic path.
At a glance
- Salary
- $145k–$175k
- Term
- Open-ended
- Start
- Early 2027
- Reports to
- Mei-Lin Chen
- Location
- Pittsburgh / hybrid
Postdoctoral Fellow, Quantum Simulation 2-year fellowship Pittsburgh
You will work on resource estimation and algorithm design for chemistry problems that matter to the energy transition, with a focus on iron–sulfur clusters and catalysts for low-energy nitrogen fixation.
The fellowship is fully funded, with no requirement to bring external money. You will publish openly, present at two conferences a year, and spend one day a week on a public-facing project of your choosing.
What you'll do
- Develop and test quantum algorithms for strongly correlated systems
- Publish resource estimates, including the unflattering ones
- Collaborate with electrochemists and grid planners
- Contribute to at least one open-source tool
What we're looking for
- PhD in physics, chemistry, computer science, or a related field
- Strong background in quantum algorithms or computational chemistry
- Evidence of independent research taste
- Interest in public-interest applications, not just benchmarks
We encourage applications from people without a traditional academic path.
At a glance
- Salary
- $92k + $15k research
- Term
- Two years
- Start
- September 2027
- Reports to
- Sofia Reyes
- Location
- Pittsburgh
Open Source Maintainer Part time · 24 hrs/week Remote (US time zones)
You will maintain the unglamorous parts of Kestrel and our decoder libraries: installation, documentation, issue triage, release engineering, and the test rig that lets new users try the stack without hardware.
This is a writing-heavy engineering role. The best candidate will enjoy turning a confused user into a contributor, and will have opinions about version numbers that they can defend without being unbearable.
What you'll do
- Own release engineering and dependency hygiene
- Write and test installation and upgrade guides
- Triage issues and support external contributors
- Run a monthly open office hour for users
What we're looking for
- 2+ years maintaining an open-source project used by strangers
- Comfort with Python, C++, and Linux packaging
- Excellent written communication
- Patience for the unglamorous work that makes tools usable
We encourage applications from people without a traditional academic path.
At a glance
- Salary
- $65k–$78k pro-rated
- Term
- One year, renewable
- Start
- January 2027
- Reports to
- Nadia Kowalski
- Location
- Remote (US time zones)
Quantum Education Fellow 1-year fellowship Pittsburgh
You will teach, write, and test classroom materials with public-school teachers. This is not a science-communication internship; you will be responsible for a set of lessons and for the students who use them.
We are especially interested in candidates who have taught in a public school, worked with multilingual learners, or built community programs outside a university.
What you'll do
- Co-teach Quantum Classroom lessons in partner schools
- Revise materials based on classroom evidence
- Run two teacher workshops per term
- Help organize Public Lab Night
What we're looking for
- Experience teaching or facilitating in a public setting
- Background in physics, engineering, or education
- Ability to explain complex ideas without flattening them
- A commitment to working with students who are often left out
We encourage applications from people without a traditional academic path.
At a glance
- Salary
- $62k
- Term
- One year
- Start
- August 2027
- Reports to
- Ellis Park
- Location
- Pittsburgh
To apply, email a CV and a short note about a problem you want to work on. No cover-letter theater. We read every application and reply within two weeks.
02 / Life here
Small team. Real constraints.
Benefits that exist
Full health, dental, and vision; 25 days PTO plus holidays; 12 weeks parental leave; a transit pass; and $3,000 a year for professional development.
A lab that argues
Decisions are made in the open, including the ones that go badly. The most junior person in the room is expected to say when the noise model is wrong.
How we hire
Application
CV and a short note. We reply to everyone within two weeks.
Conversation
A 45-minute call about your work and ours. No trick questions.
Work sample
A paid, bounded task based on real lab work. Usually 4–6 hours.
Visit
Meet the team, see the machine, and ask us the hard questions.
Our commitment. We do not use unpaid take-home projects, ask for current salary, or require multiple all-day interviews. We provide interview questions in advance and pay for travel to Pittsburgh.
Quantum Fellows 2027
Two years, fully funded, your question.
Two fellowships for early-career researchers working on public-interest quantum science. Salary $92,000 plus benefits and a $15,000 annual research budget. No requirement to bring external funding. Applications close 15 November 2026.
Who
Early-career researchers in physics, CS, chemistry, or adjacent fields.
What
A question you care about, with a plausible path to progress.
When
Applications close 15 November 2026. Offers by 31 January 2027.
Equal opportunity
Ruqi Lab is an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status. We are actively working to build a lab that is more representative than physics has been, and we welcome applications from people who have been excluded from it.
Questions about a role? Write to jobs@ruqilab.org. We will not share your application outside the hiring committee.