Quantum Fault-Tolerant Architecture Specialist

About Zapata Quantum

Zapata Quantum is shaping the future of quantum computing: setting the standards for what’s viable, valuable, and worth building. The Company powers quantum applications across cryptography, pharmaceuticals, finance, materials discovery, defense, and beyond, translating cutting-edge research into real-world impact.

Zapata is the only organization to have contributed across every technical area of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking program, giving it a uniquely comprehensive view of what it takes to make quantum computing work in practice. Now restructured and sharply focused, Zapata Quantum stands alone as the only publicly traded, pure-play quantum software company fully dedicated to unlocking quantum’s commercial potential.

We’re rebuilding at a pivotal moment for the industry—bringing together a team that will help define how quantum delivers value in the real world, with the opportunity for meaningful ownership as we shape the commercial path forward.

About the role

We are seeking a Quantum Fault-Tolerant Architecture Specialist to lead development of the software stack that maps logical quantum circuits to executable fault-tolerant implementations. You will own the architecture roadmap, compilation methodology, and physical resource-estimation models across different codes and architecture paradigms.

This high-ownership role sits at the boundary of quantum error correction, architecture, and software. You will define fault-tolerant semantics, reference implementations, error budgets, and validation criteria; guide a compiler engineer building production infrastructure; and partner with quantum algorithm scientists on key workloads. You will have access to advisors including Austin Fowler and Alexandru Paler, with opportunities to publish and contribute to open-source tools. This position is classified as exempt under applicable wage and hour laws.

What you'll do

• Own the roadmap for translating logical circuits into fault-tolerant operations, layouts, schedules, and costed physical implementations
• Develop code-aware lowering and resource models for surface, qLDPC, color, and emerging codes under explicit hardware, connectivity, and noise assumptions
• Lead software components and APIs for code geometry, logical operations, syndrome extraction, decoding, routing, scheduling, and magic-state factories
• Build reproducible estimators for physical qubits, runtime, space-time volume, throughput, failure probability, and uncertainty
• Benchmark decoders, QEC simulations, logical error rates, and architecture tradeoffs
• Define fault-tolerant IR constructs, backend passes, tests, and specifications with the compiler engineer on the team
• Co-design resource estimates with algorithm scientists for cryptographic, chemistry, and simulation workloads
• Track emerging codes, gates, decoders, and architectures; deliver recommendations through software, publications, technical reports, and program deliverables

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in a related field, with research focused on quantum error correction or fault-tolerant quantum computing
• Established record in code design, decoding, fault-tolerant logical operations, architecture, or compilation
• Deep command of stabilizer and subsystem codes, syndrome extraction, logical errors, and code-family tradeoffs
• Ability to derive physical qubit counts, runtime, and space-time volume from a logical workload and failure target
• Hands-on Python and experience building research-quality QEC, compiler, simulation, or resource-estimation software
• Experience evaluating decoders via Monte Carlo simulation, logical-error analysis, and extrapolation
• Systems understanding of logical operations, feed-forward, routing, scheduling, magic-state supply, classical decoding, and hardware constraints
• Ability to set a roadmap, expose assumptions, collaborate across disciplines, and communicate clearly

Preferred Experience

• Substantive contributions to open-source QEC or fault-tolerant compilation tools such as tqec, Stim, Qualtran, Bench-Q, or comparable systems
• Expertise beyond a single code family, especially qLDPC or color codes, code switching or gauge fixing, transversal gates, lattice surgery, or modular fault-tolerant architectures
• Experience with hardware-aware QEC, real-time or accelerated decoding, and physical error models for superconducting, neutral-atom, trapped-ion, or photonic platforms
• Familiarity with compiler IRs and verification techniques (for example QIR/MLIR, equivalence checking, property-based testing, SMT, Lean, or Coq) 
• Experience with government-funded research programs