HRL Laboratories

HRL Laboratories is one of the longest-running groups working on quantum computers. We are driven by a research agenda (think Bell Labs), not a bottom line. We specifically work with silicon dot qubits, a kind of qubit technology that uses ordinary electrical pulses to control the computer, making it quite friendly and intuitive to generalist software engineers (unlike alternative technologies with which use lasers, suspended atoms, photons, or RF circuits). We are a full-stack research laboratory, starting at the bottom with fabrication equipment in clean rooms. We run ourselves as a professional software engineering shop, so no hacky Matlab scripts on shared Dropbox folders you often find in academic labs. Software engineers can work in a variety of domains, from the lowest level control software in C++, to the mathematical rigor of quantum compilation in Common Lisp, to experimental physics software scientists use in Python. We even have a team dedicated to internal tools, written as small, well written web apps, to help the various engineers work more efficiently. We accept interns year round. We just celebrated the success of our spring internship, and our summer internship is in full swing. Seats are limited. Tech stacks for different quantum projects: Quantum Compilers: Common Lisp, Coalton, SBCL, Internal Tools: JavaScript, Vue, Node, Experimental Physics Software: Python, NumPy, Low-Level Control System: C++, cmake, laboratory instruments :), Infrastructure: GitLab, Artifactory, Conda. We try to write portable code. Most developers run Mac or Windows, and we deploy to Linux or Windows. We have a straightforward 5-step interview process: 1. (Optional) Screening call with recruiter, able to ask questions about compensation up-front for the role and level you're applying for. 2. Talk with an engineer, high-level background and tech talk. 3. Take-home coding exercise. One of our take-home exercises is to tally the top-100 words of a text corpus. They are truly exercises, not projects. 4. On-site interview, no whiteboarding, no quizzing. You interviewing us is just as important as we to you. 5. Reference checks. The positions are for US citizens and US residents only. Company has a baseline WFH policy of 50% time, but we can be flexible. Either apply through the front door on the website above, or email me via my profile.