Principal Quantum Scientist

Salary range guideline: $150,000 - $200,000 (Competitive salaries will be negotiated commensurate with experience).
Job type: Full time
Location: On-site (Ottawa, ON)
Vacancy disclosure: This posting is for an existing vacancy.

About Q-Block Computing: Q-Block Computing is a Canadian quantum technology company on a mission to decode Nature's foundational model — to build instruments precise enough to orchestrate atoms and photons, and to ask whether a quantum system can, in principle, capture Nature's computational power. We are a home for the curious mind and unconventional thinking, a sanctuary for avant-garde science and blue-sky research on time horizons longer than today's academic institutions. Some of the most important questions require decades to answer, and patience is not passivity but strategic discipline.

Q-Block Computing Research is the fundamental science division of the company. It is where we pursue the deepest questions — the computational power of Nature, the structure of quantum field theories, the link between entanglement and spacetime, and the foundations of quantum metrology. The research we do here shapes what becomes possible across every other part of the company; the rest of the company exists, in part, to make this research possible.

About this role: The Principal Quantum Scientist will define the scientific identity and long-range research program of Q-Block Computing Research — setting the direction of frontier experimental and theoretical work in quantum information science, AMO physics, quantum metrology, and related foundational domains.

This is a role for a scientist of the highest caliber: someone who has made original, recognized contributions to quantum physics, who has the range and vision to define a multi-year research agenda, and who finds more meaning in the pursuit of deep scientific truth than in the routine execution of established programs. We are building toward questions such as understanding the computational power of Nature, the structure of strongly correlated quantum matter, the physics of entanglement at scale, the ultimate limits of quantum measurement, and we need the kind of mind that finds those questions genuinely irresistible.

The candidate we are looking for has already demonstrated the ability to set and drive their own research agenda at the highest level of the field. They are capable of choosing problems that matter, building the tools to attack them, and carrying a program from concept to result with very little external scaffolding. What we offer is the environment that kind of scientist needs to do their best work: deep engineering infrastructure, institutional conviction behind long-horizon science, and the freedom to ask questions that are larger than a grant cycle. The focus is on building and understanding, without the administrative and performative burdens that have grown up around much of contemporary research, and with commercial programs deliberately structured to fund and amplify fundamental work rather than crowd it out.

How Q-Block Computing Research differs from an academic institution: Q-Block Computing Research is built for scientists who want to pursue fundamental questions without the structural constraints that have come to define modern academic life. In a university, the size of a question is often bounded by the length of a grant cycle, the cadence of graduate student throughput, and the incentives of annual publication counts. Here, research horizons are measured in years and decades rather than funding rounds, and the scientific agenda is set by the depth of the question rather than the appetite of a review panel. There are no teaching loads to navigate, no committee service to absorb time that belongs to the laboratory, and no tenure clock shaping which problems are safe to pursue and which are not.

The scientific infrastructure is also different in kind. A university group typically assembles instruments one graduate student at a time, on equipment budgets that lag the state of the art by years. Q-Block Computing Research operates alongside a sustainable engineering organization whose ordinary work is the construction of ultrastable lasers, quantum-limited photodetectors, reference cavities, optical modulators, and the control systems that tie them together. Scientists here have access to that infrastructure as a matter of course, which means experiments that would take a university lab half a decade to build can be standing up in a year. The cost of this is that the work is conducted on-site, in close collaboration, and with a shared vision of experimental rigor; the benefit is that the ambition of the science can be matched by the capability of the tools. Finally, the culture is one of radical honesty about what is known, what is uncertain, and what has failed — a standard that is harder to maintain in an environment where reputation depends on the steady appearance of forward progress.

What you will do:

• Define and lead the long-range scientific program of Q-Block Computing Research, including research agendas in quantum computation, quantum sensing and metrology, quantum communication, and foundational quantum physics relevant to our technical vision.
• Serve as one of the company's senior scientific voices: set standards for experimental rigor, theoretical depth, and honest scientific communication across all research activities.
• Lead flagship research programs, including work on neutral-atom quantum systems, fault-tolerant quantum architectures, quantum metrology, and the development of new experimental probes and quantum-enabled instruments.
• Mentor and develop the scientific staff in your research group within Q-Block Computing Research, including senior scientists; establish a research culture characterized by intellectual honesty, experimental courage, and patient ambition.
• Connect fundamental research to Q-Block's technology development programs — including PolarisQ, AllanQ, and LuciaQ — in ways that enrich both the science and the capability, without sacrificing the primacy of foundational inquiry.
• Lead and contribute to the development of major research programs and long-term scientific collaborations with leading universities, national laboratories, and government research agencies.
• Represent Q-Block Computing Research externally through publications, conference participation, scientific advisory roles, and scientific community engagement.

Required qualifications:

• PhD in Physics, Applied Physics, or a closely related field, with a research focus in experimental or theoretical quantum physics.
• Outstanding research record demonstrating original scientific contributions of recognized significance.
• 10+ years of substantive research experience in quantum physics, including significant independent research leadership at the level of a principal investigator, group leader, senior staff scientist, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated ability to define multi-year research programs, manage scientific uncertainty honestly, and build and develop scientific teams.
• The intellectual honesty, scientific humility, and personal conviction to pursue difficult questions on long time horizons.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience at the frontier of neutral-atom quantum computing, quantum error correction, optical lattice clocks, entanglement-based sensing, or quantum network science.
• Track record of translating fundamental science into new experimental capabilities, instruments, or technology concepts that influenced subsequent research or development efforts.
• Experience building or leading a research group, mentoring PhD students or postdoctoral researchers, or developing a scientific culture at an organization.
• Familiarity with Canadian or allied government research programs, national laboratory ecosystems, or defense-adjacent fundamental science programs is an asset.
• Record of scientific communication at the highest level: invited talks, review articles, influential preprints, or other evidence of scientific leadership beyond one's immediate group

Benefits

• Extended health care (including dental and vision)
• Life insurance

Recruitment and AI disclosure

Q-Block Computing uses artificial intelligence (AI) solely to summarize application materials and candidate profiles during the initial screening stage. Human reviewers review the original application documents and are involved in every screening and selection decision. All hiring decisions, including the final hiring decision, are made by human reviewers; AI does not make hiring decisions.

Equal Opportunity: Q-Block Computing is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to treating all employees and applicants for employment with respect and dignity. If you require assistance and/or reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please feel free to notify us.

All interested candidates are encouraged to apply.