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Fremont, California, United States
Onsite
Rigetti is seeking an IC Layout Automation Software Engineer to develop and maintain software systems that support the design and fabrication of superconducting quantum circuits.
This role sits at the intersection of software engineering, IC layout, and semiconductor fabrication, enabling the translation of device and process requirements into manufacturable layouts. You will work closely with cross-functional teams across design, fabrication, and research to build and evolve tools that are critical to how quantum devices are designed and produced.
This is a highly interdisciplinary role that requires strong software fundamentals alongside familiarity with IC design workflows and fabrication processes. You will play a key role in improving the reliability, usability, and scalability of layout generation and design tooling used in a cutting-edge R&D environment and over time, in shaping what that tooling becomes.
Design, develop, and maintain production-quality software systems for IC layout generation and design workflows
Refactor and improve existing codebases to increase maintainability, usability, and performance
Build scalable and extensible software architectures that support evolving design and fabrication requirements
Ensure code quality through best practices in testing, documentation, and version control
Translate design and fabrication requirements into layout-ready implementations
Work with GDSII and IC layout formats to generate, manipulate, and validate layout data
Develop and maintain tooling that supports layout generation, verification, and iteration
Integrate software workflows with existing EDA tools and design environments
Partner closely with design, fabrication, and research teams to understand requirements and deliver effective solutions
Collaborate with stakeholders to define workflows and improve how design requests are translated into implementation
Support users across multiple technical domains, improving usability and reducing friction in tooling
Contribute to prioritization discussions across competing stakeholder needs
Improve usability and accessibility of internal design tools to reduce errors and increase efficiency
Identify and address gaps in current workflows, proposing more robust and user-friendly solutions
Support the evolution of tooling from ad hoc usage toward more structured and scalable systems
Balance reactive work (stabilization, bug fixing) with proactive development of new capabilities
B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Materials Science, or a related technical field.
Strong proficiency in Python, with experience developing and maintaining production-quality software in a real-world engineering or technical environment.
Proven ability to own and improve complex, long-lived codebases, including refactoring, architecture decisions, testing, documentation, and maintainability.
Experience working with IC layout data and formats, including GDSII.
Familiarity with EDA / IC layout tooling such as KLayout, gdspy, Cadence, or similar platforms.
Strong communication skills, with the ability to operate across teams that use different technical language and workflows.
Working knowledge of semiconductor fabrication workflows, with exposure to lithography processes.
Familiarity with lithography required; experience with e-beam lithography a strong plus.
Ability to translate design, fabrication, or process requirements into reliable software implementations.
Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with stakeholders across software, hardware, design, fabrication, and research teams.
Ability to manage ambiguity, prioritize competing requests, and bring structure to evolving technical systems.
Comfortable working closely with cleanroom, fab, or lab-based teams in an R&D environment.
As engineering leaders, we value diversity and are committed to building a culture of inclusion to attract and engage innovative thinkers. Our technology, meant to serve all of humanity, cannot succeed if those who built it do not mirror the diversity of the communities we serve. Applications from women, minorities, and other under-represented groups are encouraged.
