Role:

System Software builds the software that runs IonQ's quantum computers: the runtime, orchestration, quantum tools, controllers and transport software that sit between the Quantum Operating System and the hardware. It is where a next-generation system either comes together or doesn't.

We're hiring a Staff Technical Programme Manager to lead delivery across this stack. You'll report to the Group Program Manager, Software in our Programme Management Office and be matrixed to the VP, Software for day-to-day work.

You'll work across five engineering teams (runtime, orchestration, quantum tools, controllers and transport) and the interfaces between them and their cross-functional stakeholders, serving several next-generation system programmes at once, with hardware being co-developed alongside the software and teams in both Oxford and the US. Those programmes draw on the same engineers, so the central problem of this role is making sure that capacity is spent by decision, not by default.

We run a centralised PMO model. This role will not own engineering headcount or define product but it will make the programme around those things run. It carries real ownership of delivery: the plan, the trade-offs put in front of decision-makers, and the honesty of the status. In this role you will interface with everyone from technical software engineers to a wide range of the most senior stakeholders. You will also coordinate with your fellow programme managers, across Science, Infrastructure and broader Software teams, making sure all plans are shared and coordinated, rather than operating in silos.

Turning a research-grade quantum system into a dependable product is a problem nobody has finished solving, and the delivery standard you'll work within is being built now. If writing the first version of the plan sounds like the interesting part, we should talk.

Responsibilities:

In this role you will own the end-to-end delivery of the Systems Software roadmap across several concurrent programmes including managing dependencies between hardware, science and systems integration teams. You will partner closely with engineering leadership, the engineering teams run the day to day planning and boards, you will provide the direction that creates incremental milestones that ship.

You will identify risks and blockers early and work with the teams to resolve them. You will also run intake and triage, so requests reach the right team with the right priority and engineers can stay focused on planned work.

Key responsibilities include:

• Make contention visible: when two programmes need the same team in the same quarter, bring it to the right decision-maker with the options and a recommendation before it becomes a slip.

• Keep the systems of record honest. Requirements, plans, schedules and Jira drift apart; you'll close the gap and automate the checking.

• Make invisible work visible: on-call load, sustaining work and technical debt tracked as rigorously as feature delivery.

• Surface risks early, before you have a full solution or complete alignment. We'd rather hear it messy and on time.

• Run intake and triage so requests reach the right team, with priority set by the people who own it, and engineers stay on planned work.

• Work hand in hand with the Quantum Systems Infrastructure and Science TPMs in Oxford and the Software TPMs in the US: shared processes where teams meet, and no duplicated ceremonies, boards or reports.

• Write concise, plain-English status on progress, risks and decisions for programme directors, engineering leaders and senior leadership.

• Help shape how IonQ runs software delivery across sites, working with the Group Program Manager, Software on the shared delivery standard.

Requirements:

You will have significant experience running technical programmes across several software teams, ideally in systems, embedded, compiler or platform software. You can discuss scope and trade-offs directly with engineering leads, read and reason about code, and re-plan when a timeline is no longer realistic. You will have a track record of leading teams through genuine ambiguity, writing the first version of the plan when there isn't one, not just executing a defined one.

You can break broad problems down into specific, assignable actions, and you have designed a team's operating cadence before. No quantum background is needed. Experience of software that works closely with hardware, for example in labs, robotics, aerospace or scientific instruments, would be beneficial.

You’d be a great fit with:

• A habit of turning diffuse problems into specific, minimal, assignable asks.

• Technical fluency to engage engineering leads directly on scope and trade-offs, and comfort reading and reasoning about code.

• Willingness to re-baseline against reality rather than defend dates that have stopped being true, and the judgement to tell a target that motivates from one that just generates fiction.

• Experience with software that works closely with hardware: labs, robotics, aerospace, scientific instruments or similar.

• A chase-without-nagging, escalate-without-drama style, and a clear sense of the difference between a risk and a noise.

• AI as a core part of how you work, for example agent-driven tracking, reconciliation or reporting.

• Clear, concise written and verbal communication with both technical and senior stakeholders.

Additional desirable skills include capacity and staffing modelling, designing operating cadences and experience leading work across sites and time zones. Experience working with programmes and systems such as Jira, Confluence and GitHub, with a preference for lightweight processes, is also helpful.