Alice & Bob, a Paris-based startup founded in 2020, is competing in the race towards building the world’s first
fault-tolerant quantum computer. This major challenge includes designing the basic building blocks of the quantum computer as well as scaling an incredibly complex system. The company raised 27M€ in March 2022 and has now grown to over 60 employees.
The basic building block for information in a quantum computer is the quantum bit, known as the
qubit. Compared to the classical bit that we have in have in our everyday computers, the qubit lives in the world of quantum physics. The rich mathematics of quantum physics enables an exponential computational advantage on certain problems when using qubits compared to their classical counterparts. However, this advantage comes to a price: high sensitivity to errors that corrupt the information in the qubits. These errors must mitigated for a quantum computer to be useful. Our target is to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer, which is able to run error-free for as long as we need it to.
The technology developed by Alice & Bob and its academic partners belongs to the family of superconducting qubits and is called the
cat qubit. The cat qubit is designed to autonomously suppress certain types of errors at the hardware level. This new technology significantly reduces the projected size of a large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer and therefore the complexity of building such a machine. This results in an efficient platform for scaling up the number of qubits, and puts the company at the forefront of the race against tech giants such as Google, IBM and AWS.
We believe that small, high-performing teams can have a worldwide impact. As a software engineer at Alice & Bob you will get the opportunity to work at the bleeding edge of quantum technology, and participate in the challenge of building the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer. You will work with the microwave team, whose mission is to design and simulate the superconducting chips that host our qubits.
Specifically, your work will include
- streamlining software design processes
- API development
- building infrastructure for numerical simulations
- developing test and review processes
If you want to challenge yourself and one day see fault-tolerant quantum computers become a reality, you are welcome to join us!
Requirements
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience in industry software development
- Experience in Python
- Experience in software test engineering
- Master degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or similar
SKILLS:
- Pain point hunter, automation maniac
- Long game thinker
- Big picture overseer and synthesis minded
- Ability to explain solutions to non-programming experts
- Ability to reason and spot corner cases by reading source code
- Having an excellent and honest analysis
- Looking beyond the obvious and not stopping at the first answers
- Good understanding of the scientific method
- Experience in agile development
- Demonstrable interest for development outside the working environment (e.g. personal projects, open source, papers, …)
ICING ON THE CAKE:
- General understanding of electromagnetic theory
- experience with CAD software packages, i.e. Ansys Electronics desktop, openEMS
Benefits
This is a meaningful position: you’ll support our team in their engagement to build the first universal quantum computer!
- You will be part of one of the most innovative startups in France
- Multiple benefits (competitive health benefits, etc...), parental benetifs, internal events, etc..
- Our team is passionate and involved in its daily missions. We love to share, learn from one another on each others area of expertise.
- You will have the opportunity to innovate and develop new ideas!
- Join our company at an early stage, an opportunity for future growth!
- You will have the opportunity to work in an open-minded and friendly environment!