Principal Solutions Architect - Quantum-Safe Networks

About IonQ: 

IonQ, Inc . [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum platform and merchant supplier - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. IonQ’s newest generation of quantum computers, the IonQ Tempo, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners including Amazon Web Services, and AstraZeneca achieve 20x performance results and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance .

Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, IonQ has operations in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington, Italy, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our quantum computing services are available through all major cloud providers, while we also meet the needs of networking and sensing customers across land, sea, air, and space. IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before.  

Location: This position is US-based and can work onsite or hybrid from one of our offices or fully remote. Travel: Up to 30%, domestic and international Job ID: 1779 

The Role: 

We are looking for a Principal Solutions Architect to design how networks become quantum-safe — for the largest network operators, enterprises, and government agencies in the world.

Today's networks are secured with cryptography that a cryptographically relevant quantum computer will break. Every operator and enterprise will have to inventory their cryptography, make it agile, migrate to post-quantum algorithms, and in the highest-assurance segments complement that with quantum-safe key distribution. Almost nobody knows yet what that architecture actually looks like. That is the problem you will solve — first with customers, on real networks, and then as reusable architectures that shape what IonQ builds.

This role sits deliberately in two places. About half your time is customer-facing: in collaboration with our GTM colleagues, you’ll be leading architecture discussions, designing quantum-safe target architectures and migration paths, running proofs of concept and interoperability tests, and supporting complex pursuits as the technical authority. The other half is design authority, standards work, and providing thought leadership internally and externally: turning what you learn in the field into reference architectures, migration playbooks, standards, whitepapers, blogs, and product requirements that our engineering and product teams build against.

You are equally comfortable in a firewall design review as you are in a discussion about hybrid key exchange and crypto-agility. You can explain to a CISO why their crypto inventory is the hard part, and to a network engineer exactly which IPsec algorithms to use and where they could insert external key material in order to become quantum-safe.

This is not a software architecture role — you will not own a codebase (it’s a plus if you can do some scripting). It is an architecture and customer role: you own designs, decisions, and the technical credibility of IonQ's quantum-safe networking story.

Responsibilities :

Design quantum-safe target architectures and migration paths for customer networks — spanning WAN and transport, data center and campus, segmentation and access control, key management, and the crypto that underpins all of it.

Lead technical discovery and architecture workshops with network, security, and infrastructure teams. Assess the current state, identify where cryptography is embedded and where it is brittle, and build a migration plan the customer can actually execute.

Own the technical thread in complex pursuits: architecture proposals, RFI/RFP responses, security and compliance questions, competitive positioning, and objection handling — in partnership with Sales.

In collaboration with the Sales Engineers, design and run proofs of concept, interoperability tests, and pilots — including PQC and hybrid key exchange in production-representative network environments and, where relevant, QKD-integrated links — together with our engineering teams and customer staff.

Translate field learning into reusable reference architectures, migration playbooks, interoperability matrices, and design guides that scale beyond the deals you personally work.

Serve as the customer's voice in the product process. Bring architectural constraints, integration gaps, and roadmap requirements to Product and Engineering with enough specificity to be actionable, and hold us to them.

Track how the standards and threat landscape actually move and contribute to them — NIST PQC standards and migration guidance, protocol work in the IETF, national and sector-specific mandates and deadlines — and keep our architectures and guidance ahead of it.

Partner with Marketing, Corporate Communications, and GTM to build IonQ's technical presence in the networking and security community: talks, papers, blogs, standards bodies, and industry events.

Raise the technical bar around you — architecture reviews, mentoring, and the design patterns the rest of the team reuses.

Requirements:

15+ years designing and securing enterprise and/or service provider networks, in a solutions architecture, network architecture, security architecture, or senior customer-facing engineering capacity.

Deep (hands-on) knowledge of how networks are built and secured today: routing and switching, IP transport, network segmentation, firewall and access control design, VPN and encryption at the network layer, and Zero Trust principles applied to real infrastructure. Multi-vendor experience (for example, Cisco, Juniper, Palo Alto, Fortinet, Nokia) is expected.

Working knowledge of applied cryptography as it appears in networks: TLS, IPsec, MACsec, PKI and certificate lifecycle, key management, and how algorithm and key material choices are made and changed in practice.

Demonstrated ability to work in front of customers at multiple levels — leading workshops, running architecture discussions with engineers, and holding a credible conversation with a CISO or SVP of Infrastructure about risk, cost, and sequencing.

A serious interest in where this is heading, and enough grounding to be credible on day one: post-quantum cryptography and crypto-agility, quantum key distribution, and the migration challenge facing existing networks. You do not need to have shipped a PQC migration — very few people have — but you should be able to reason about the problem rigorously and be visibly motivated to go deep.

Strong written communication. Architectures, migration plans, and design guidance are a large part of the output.

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Willingness to travel up to 30%, primarily within the US, with incidental international travel.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience with post-quantum cryptography migration: cryptographic discovery and inventory, crypto-agility architecture, hybrid key exchange, or PQC deployment in a network or PKI context.

Hands-on exposure to quantum key distribution or quantum networking — testbeds, carrier or research trials, key delivery interfaces to encryptors, or optical and transport-layer integration.

Experience at a network or security vendor, service provider, hyperscaler, or a large enterprise network or security team — with real accountability for architecture decisions at scale.

Familiarity with the security and compliance frameworks customers will map this work to: NIST CSF, CIS Benchmarks, ISO 27001, FISMA, FedRAMP, or sector-specific regulation.

Public-sector, defense, financial services, or telecom experience, where high-assurance and long data-confidentiality horizons make this problem urgent today.

Contributions to standards or the technical community: IETF, ETSI, national PQC migration working groups, published writing, or conference talks.

Certifications that validate technical depth — CISSP, CCIE/JNCIE, CCNP Security, or equivalent.

Comfort with automation and tooling — Python, config-as-code, network telemetry — enough to build a credible demo or analysis yourself rather than waiting on someone else.

The total compensation package includes base, bonus, equity, and a range of benefit options found on our career site. If this role has a commission structure, the compensation range below just reflects the base compensation range.

Wage Transparency: $192,979 — $276,722 USD

Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location, and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity. Posted base salary figures are subject to change as new market data becomes available. Our benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, matching 401(k), unlimited PTO and paid holidays, parental/adoption leave, legal insurance, and a home technology stipend. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided when a candidate receives an offer of employment. 

At IonQ, we believe in fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all while striving to identify and eliminate barriers. We empower employees to thrive by fostering a culture of autonomy, productivity, and respect. We are dedicated to creating an environment where individuals can feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.   We are committed to equity and justice. We welcome different voices and viewpoints and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.

US Technical Jobs.  The position you are applying for will require access to technology that is subject to U.S. export control and government contract restrictions.  Employment with IonQ is contingent on either verifying “U.S. Person” (e.g., U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. permanent resident, or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum) status for export controls and government contracts work, obtaining any necessary license, and/or confirming the availability of a license exception under U.S. export controls.  Please note that in the absence of confirming you are a U.S. Person for export control and government contracts work purposes, IonQ may choose not to apply for a license or decline to use a license exception (if available) for you to access export-controlled technology that may require authorization, and similarly, you may not qualify for government contracts work that requires U.S. Persons, and IonQ may decline to proceed with your application on those bases alone.  Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.  

US Non-Technical Jobs.  Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum. Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.

If you are interested in being a part of our team and mission, we encourage you to apply!