---
title: 'Junior Mechanical CAD Engineer / Designer at Equal1'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/junior-mechanical-cad-engineer-designer-equal1-california-a9xm7xbwt0ze'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-05'
---

# Junior Mechanical CAD Engineer / Designer at Equal1

- **Company:** Equal1
- **Location:** California
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-07-05
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-05
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/equal1/bb0af285-016d-4c11-a9f0-db26cdd71c30

## Job description

We are seeking a Junior Mechanical CAD Engineer / Designer to join Equal1’s cryogenic cooler and system integration team. In this role, you will create mechanical components from concept through assembly and system testing.

Components will include CNC-machined parts, vacuum-brazed assemblies, cryogenic turbo-compressor designs, Joule-Thomson counterflow heat exchangers for He-4 and He-3 cycles, and magnetic field generation and control structures. The role requires strong 3D CAD capability, practical design-for-manufacture knowledge, and a hands-on approach to building and testing cryostat systems.

## MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

- Create 3D CAD models, assemblies, and technical drawings for cryogenic cooler and system integration components.
- Design CNC-machined parts, vacuum-brazed assemblies, cryogenic compressor components, heat exchangers, and magnetic field control structures.
- Apply design-for-manufacture and assembly principles, including machining processes, sheet metal fabrication, tolerances, and ease of assembly.
- Work with internal teams, suppliers, and machinists to support fabrication, design iteration, and manufacturability reviews.
- Support hands-on assembly, integration, and testing of cryostat systems.
- Maintain design documentation, drawings, BOMs, and engineering change records.

## EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

Required

- Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline.
- Good knowledge of 3D CAD tools; NX or Onshape experience is a plus.
- 3D CAD and CAM knowledge.
- Understanding of metal production processes, including CNC, 5-axis machining, dual-spindle lathe processes, sheet metal fabrication, and/or 3D metal printing.
- Understanding of engineering materials, including copper, stainless steel, aluminium alloys, carbon fibre, and glass fibre composites.
- Basic understanding of adhesive bonding and brazing processes.
- Hands-on assembly or project execution experience.

## Preferred

- 2+ years of industry experience, ideally in aerospace, semiconductor equipment, cryogenic systems, scientific instrumentation, or precision mechanical engineering.
- Cryogenic experience is a plus.

## About Equal1

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Equal1 builds the world's first rack-mounted silicon quantum computers designed to deploy alongside classical CPUs and GPUs in standard data center infrastructure.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A, last raised $60M in January 2026)
- **Headquarters**: Dublin 4, Ireland (with offices in Fremont, CA; Delft, Netherlands; Sherbrooke, Canada; Timișoara, Romania)
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Dirk Leipold (President & Co-Founder), R. Bogdan Staszewski (Co-Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Quantum Computing / Nanotechnology / High-Performance Computing
- **Target Customers**: Enterprise and government data centers, HPC clusters, AI labs, defense and aerospace organizations (current customer includes the European Space Agency)
- **Mission Statement**: "Quantum will not deliver from the lab. It delivers when it becomes deployable: infrastructure that can be bought, run, scaled and trusted inside high-performance compute environments."

## Products & Services
- **Equal1 RacQ**: A rack-mounted silicon quantum computer that fits into a standard server rack with standard power and cooling. It runs alongside existing CPU/GPU infrastructure and supports hybrid quantum-classical workloads. Currently shipping to customers.
- **UnityQ**: The silicon quantum processor (QSoC - Quantum System-on-Chip) built in standard CMOS foundries. Each generation adds more qubits, higher fidelity, and exponential compute within the same rack footprint.
- **Quantum Solutions**: Capabilities for optimization (logistics, portfolio, scheduling), simulation (molecular systems, materials science), Monte Carlo (risk, pricing, modeling), and Quantum AI (training paths beyond classical scaling).

## Market Standing
- **Total Funding**: $106.5M across 12 rounds (last round: $60M in January 2026 led by Ireland Strategic Investment Fund)
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Notable Investors**: Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Matterwave Ventures, Atlantic Bridge, Enterprise Ireland, Elkstone Partners, EIC Fund
- **Key Partnership**: Signed a deal with **Nvidia** (September 2024) for hybrid supercomputer and quantum systems
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - RacQ already shipping to customers including the **European Space Agency**
  - Headcount growing 15.6% YoY (38 employees as of mid-2026)
  - Opened Dutch lab in 2024, partnered with TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research)
  - 34 patents filed in quantum information science
  - Multiple generations of silicon already proven

## Competitive Advantages
- **Silicon CMOS Advantage**: Unlike other qubit modalities (superconducting, ion trap, photonic) that require exotic manufacturing, Equal1 builds in standard silicon foundries — making their chips manufacturable, deployable, and upgradeable at scale.
- **Rack-Mounted Form Factor**: The only quantum computer that fits in a standard data center rack with standard power and cooling — no cryogenic infrastructure or dedicated quantum facility required.
- **Deployed Today, Not "Soon"**: RacQ is already shipping to paying customers, including a major space agency.
- **Nvidia Partnership**: Direct integration with the dominant AI/HPC ecosystem.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling qubit count and fidelity with each UnityQ processor generation
- Deepening hybrid quantum-classical compute integration with Nvidia
- Expanding commercial deployments into optimization, simulation, and AI workloads
- Building out the software stack and framework engineering team
- Growing headcount in engineering, quantum error correction, device physics, and software roles

## Why Work Here
- **Work Environment**: "Hybrid by default" — employees work across offices in Ireland, Netherlands, US, Canada, and Romania
- **Culture**: Rated 5.0/5.0 on employer review sites (Work-Life: 5.0, Compensation: 5.0, Culture: 5.0, Career: 5.0)
- **Team**: Small (~38 people), highly technical (26% technical, 15% research), with talent from Intel (5 alumni), University College Dublin (7), TNO, Qualcomm, and Movidius
- **Impact**: You'd be building deployable quantum infrastructure that's already shipping — not just doing research
- **Career Growth**: Open roles include VP of Quantum Software Engineering, Quantum Error Correction Lead, Senior Verification Engineer, Spin Qubit Calibration Engineer — indicating serious scaling of the engineering team
- **Notable**: Employees have gone on to Stanford, PsiQuantum, Qualcomm — showing the team is deeply embedded in the quantum ecosystem

## Sources
1. [equal1.com](https://www.equal1.com/)
2. [equal1.com/company](https://www.equal1.com/company)
3. [LinkedIn - Equal1](https://www.linkedin.com/company/equal1)
4. [CB Insights - Equal1](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/equal1labs)
5. [Jobs.ashbyhq.com/equal1](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/equal1)

## Other roles at Equal1

- [Cryogenic Systems Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/cryogenic-systems-engineer-equal1-california-h19kerxqkygn) — California
- [Technical Program Manager – Cryomechanical & Quantum System Integration](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-program-manager-cryomechanical-quantum-system-integration-equal1-dsr0gnz4nv19) — California
- [Quantum Device Engineer (Silicon Spin-Qubits)](https://feeny.ai/job/quantum-device-engineer-silicon-spin-qubits-equal1-delft-hcak91tq1nca) — Delft, Netherlands
- [Head of People](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-people-equal1-dublin-8gn89h2vb4gq) — Dublin, Ireland
- [Quantum Error Correction Lead / Senior Quantum Error Correction Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/quantum-error-correction-lead-senior-quantum-error-correction-scientist-equal1-qvbyxmxdsptz) — Dublin, Ireland
- [Software Stack / Framework Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/software-stack-framework-engineer-equal1-timisoara-qk5b0hh4385x) — Timișoara, Romania
- [Speculative Applications (Quantum Computing)](https://feeny.ai/job/speculative-applications-quantum-computing-equal1-dublin-an13pxaaaghm) — Dublin, Ireland
- [Quantum Information Researcher](https://feeny.ai/job/quantum-information-researcher-equal1-dublin-rd0aa0nnnwmw) — Dublin, Ireland
- [Spin Qubit Calibration Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/spin-qubit-calibration-engineer-equal1-delft-d0attrhvmsm6) — Delft, Netherlands