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OQC is a quantum computing company that has recently closed a £260 million Series C funding round—the largest fundraise by a quantum computing company in Europe. The company is transitioning quantum computing from academic research into commercial reality.
As a Staff Scientist specializing in Quantum Error Correction (QEC) Theory, you will be a recognized technical authority helping define OQC's scientific direction in error correction strategy. This is a senior individual contributor role with significant scientific autonomy and influence. You will work at the intersection of quantum information theory and experimental hardware, developing QEC approaches for OQC's next-generation GENESIS platform and Dimon architecture.
Key responsibilities include:
- Develop and benchmark hardware-aware QEC schemes combining error detection within OQC's multimode devices with error correction across encoded qubit arrays
- Design advanced quantum codes and decoders exploiting syndrome measurements and erasure information while accounting for imperfect detection and residual errors
- Build and validate circuit-level noise models alongside experimental teams, incorporating relaxation, dephasing, leakage, crosstalk and correlated errors
- Optimize syndrome extraction, erasure-check schedules and fault-tolerant protocols around hardware connectivity, native operations, measurement times and decoding constraints
- Evaluate logical memories and operations, balancing logical error rates, physical qubit overheads, execution time and classical decoding costs
- Translate theoretical findings into quantitative hardware, control and readout requirements, collaborating with experimentalists to design and validate critical experiments
- Lead complex scientific investigations, develop reproducible simulation and analysis tools, mentor colleagues and communicate research through publications and conferences
Requirements:
- PhD in Quantum Information, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related discipline, or equivalent record of significant research experience
- Strong track record of original contributions to quantum error correction, fault-tolerant quantum computing or related quantum information research, demonstrated through publications, research software or substantive outputs
- Deep understanding of quantum information theory, including stabilizer formalism, quantum noise channels and fault-tolerance principles
- Expertise in topological codes (surface codes, colour codes) or quantum low-density parity-check (qLDPC) codes
- Experience with decoding methods for erasure and Pauli noise, including matching-based approaches, belief propagation or ordered-statistics decoding
- Strong understanding of fault-tolerant logical operations such as lattice surgery, code switching, transversal gates or magic-state preparation and distillation
- Experience with circuit-level simulation, logical error-rate estimation and resource analysis informed by experimental data
- Strong scientific programming skills in Python or C++, particularly for simulation, decoder implementation and reproducible research
- Proven ability to independently lead scientific investigations, combine analytical and numerical approaches, and translate theoretical findings into practical hardware insights
- Excellent scientific communication and collaboration skills, with ability to influence research direction and work effectively across theoretical and experimental disciplines
Nice-to-haves:
- Experience with erasure-aware QEC, dual-rail encodings or concatenated error correction schemes
- Knowledge of superconducting quantum circuits, particularly multimode transmons
- Experience with microwave control, dispersive readout or modelling noise in superconducting quantum devices
- Experience developing hardware-aware QEC strategies accounting for realistic device constraints
- Established research profile within quantum information or fault-tolerant quantum computing
- Experience mentoring researchers and contributing to collaborative academic or industrial research programmes
- 10+ years of R&D experience in quantum computing or quantum information
