Quantum Resident

About SandboxAQ

SandboxAQ is a high-growth company delivering AI solutions that address some of the world's greatest challenges. The company’s Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) power advances in life sciences, financial services, navigation, cybersecurity, and other sectors.

We are a global team that is tech-focused and includes experts in AI, chemistry, cybersecurity, physics, mathematics, medicine, engineering, and other specialties. The company emerged from Alphabet Inc. as an independent, growth capital-backed company in 2022, funded by leading investors and supported by a braintrust of industry leaders.

At SandboxAQ, we’ve cultivated an environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and impact. By investing deeply in our people, we’re building a thriving, global workforce poised to tackle the world's epic challenges. Join us to advance your career in pursuit of an inspiring mission, in a community of like-minded people who value entrepreneurialism, ownership, and transformative impact.

The Opportunity

Quantum computing is advancing quickly, and has clear relevance to the problems we work on at SandboxAQ, including high-accuracy quantum chemistry for catalysis and materials. As a Quantum Resident you will investigate this matter thoroughly. The intended output is a public technical assessment of where quantum computing stands relative to SandboxAQ's core problem areas, and, if the results warrant it, a peer-reviewed publication. This is a deliberately publication-oriented role. The work is expected to be openly publishable rather than proprietary, and you will be encouraged to present it. You will work directly with SandboxAQ's VP of Engineering and alongside our AI-simulation and catalysis teams, with substantial independence in how you approach the problem.

Key Responsibilities

• Investigate and extend quantum computing methods in chemistry and their applications to Large Quantitative Models.

• Benchmark against the classical frontier, establishing where the best available classical methods remain sufficient and where they stop.

• Collaborate with SandboxAQ scientists and external academic collaborators, and translate findings for both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Publish a public technical write-up on the current status and future prospects of quantum computing, including a scientific paper if results support one.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Enrolled in, or recently completed, a PhD in physics, chemistry, computational mathematics, electrical/computer engineering, or a related field.

• Demonstrated research experience with near-term quantum algorithms for electronic structure. For example, VQE or ADAPT-VQE, quantum-selected configuration interaction / sample-based quantum diagonalization (QSCI/SQD), or quantum Krylov / subspace diagonalization methods.

• Experience producing quantum resource estimates (circuit depth, gate counts, and measurement or shot requirements) and reasoning about what they imply for practical feasibility.

• Proficiency in Python and at least one quantum SDK (Qiskit, PennyLane, Cirq, or equivalent), with a track record of reproducible computational work.

• Evidence of independent research output, such as peer-reviewed publications or preprints, and the ability to drive a project with light day-to-day supervision.

Highly Desired Skills & Experience

• Working knowledge of quantum chemistry or electronic-structure software (PySCF, VASP, or similar), and of active-space and embedding methods such as DFET, DMET, or CASSCF/NEVPT2.

• Hands-on experience running circuits on real quantum hardware, including error mitigation or post-processing of noisy measurement data.

• Research on measurement complexity, shot reduction, or observable estimation.

• Familiarity with machine-learning interatomic potentials or other surrogate models trained on quantum-chemical data.

• Background in catalysis, surface chemistry, magnetism, or strongly correlated materials.

Why Join Us?

We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support your health, financial well-being, and life outside of work.

• Career Defining Work: Your work will directly accelerate the discovery of better drugs and better materials, advance human health, and enable safer and more sustainable technologies by helping customers put AI Simulation capabilities into real world use.

• Compensation: Competitive base salary, performance-based incentives or bonuses (where applicable), and equity participation.

• Benefits: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents with generous employer premium contributions, retirement savings with company matching, paid parental leave, and inclusive family-building benefits.

• Work-Life Balance: Fully remote, Flexible paid time off, company-wide seasonal breaks, and support for flexible work arrangements that enable sustainable performance.

• Learning and Growth: Opportunities for continuous learning and growth through on-the-job development, cross-functional collaboration, and access to internal learning and development programs.

SandboxAQ Welcomes All

We are committed to fostering a culture of belonging and respect, where diverse perspectives are actively sought and valued. Our multidisciplinary environment provides ample opportunity for continuous growth - working alongside humble, empowered, and ambitious colleagues ready to tackle epic challenges.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status.

Accommodations: We provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities in job application procedures for open roles. If you need such an accommodation, please let a member of our Recruiting team know.

Read: Guidance for candidates on using AI Tools in interviews