---
title: 'Principal Hardware Engineer: High Speed Mixed Signal Designer at Atom Computing'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-hardware-engineer-high-speed-mixed-signal-designer-atom-computing-7yyw5ehqhcaw'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Principal Hardware Engineer: High Speed Mixed Signal Designer at Atom Computing

- **Company:** Atom Computing
- **Location:** Boulder, CO
- **Compensation:** $180k–$220k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-08-20
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/atomcomputing/a3db33d7-2826-4ee0-98cd-f0e6d2d28740

## Job description

At Atom Computing, we build quantum computers using arrays of optically trapped neutral atoms that will empower customers to achieve unprecedented computational breakthroughs. Join a world-class team of scientists, engineers, and business professionals to advance the state-of-the-art in quantum computing. Atom Computing is seeking a hands-on Principal Hardware Engineer with specific expertise in high speed mixed-signal design to lead the architecture, implementation, and deployment of custom electronic assemblies for the control system of our quantum computer. In this role, you will drive hardware strategy across multiple concurrent projects while remaining deeply engaged in the tactical engineering work This position is located in Boulder, Colorado, and will report to the Control Systems Manager.

## Responsibilities

- Design high level system architectures for instruments, including multiple PCBAs for various functions, collaborating with others on FPGA/processor selection, power and clocking schemes, analog and RF front end designs and DAC and ADC
- Collaborate with quantum engineers and other groups to understand system needs, discuss solutions and define design requirements
- Board-level circuit design, schematic capture, and PCB layout in Altium Designer of custom control system hardware.
- Prepare detailed technical specifications and design documentation and assist with reviewing schematics and layout of custom electronic designs.
- Actively participate in the bring-up, verification, and testing of control system hardware systems, collaborating closely with FPGA, firmware, and software engineers.
- Mentor other members of the team in hardware design

Required Qualifications

- BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
- 10+ years of relevant postgraduate professional experience in board-level analog and digital circuit design, preferably with Altium Designer.
- Self-motivated, collaborative, and driven to work effectively in a fast-growing startup environment.
- Ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with a diverse team of experimental physicists, hardware, and software engineers.
- Willingness to learn physics concepts to put work in context.
- Experience in a full design cycle, from concept and schematic capture through to layout, fabrication, and initial board bring-up.
- Working knowledge of PCB design best practices and a keen attention to detail.
- Mixed signal design experience
- Demonstrated proficiency with electronic test equipment (e.g., oscilloscopes, spectrum and logic analyzers, signal generators) for the bring-up and debug of prototype electronics assemblies.
- Capable in scripting languages (e.g., Python) for basic data acquisition, instrument control, and automating hardware test and characterization.
- Experience working on boards with complicated ICs (FPGAs, processors, etc) requiring several power supplies, high speed busses, and high speed memory interfaces.

## Preferred Qualifications

- RF front-end and high speed ADC/DAC design experience
- Familiarity with RF design concepts and/or software defined radio
- Experience with multi-gigabit serial transceiver lane design, evaluation, equalization
- Experience designing high speed memory interfaces
- Experience with high speed digital and analog I/O and connector/cable selection and characterization
- Experience working in a Linux environment
- Familiarity with the MicroTCA, PXIe, or similar pluggable instrument standards

Atom Computing provides a wide variety of perks and benefits, including fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for our employees and their dependents. Additionally, unlimited paid time off, 401K company matching, short- and long-term disability, FSA, dependent care benefits, and life insurance.  We also offer drinks, snacks, and catered team lunches in our offices, every day! The base salary range for this position is between $180,000 - $220,000 annually, commensurate with experience. In addition to salary, we offer an annual bonus and equity in the company.

## About Atom Computing

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Atom Computing builds large-scale, gate-based quantum computers using arrays of optically-trapped neutral atoms to help companies and researchers achieve unprecedented computational breakthroughs.
- **Entity Type**: Private (funded; $60M Series B closed January 2022, ~$191.2M total funding across 12 rounds)
- **Headquarters**: Berkeley, California, United States
- **Founded**: January 2018
- **Founders**: Ben Bloom (Founder & CTO), Jonathan King (Co-Founder & Chief Scientist); Rob Hays serves as CEO & President

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Quantum computing / quantum hardware and software
- **Target customers**: B2B; enterprise researchers, commercial quantum algorithm developers, national labs, and scientific institutions seeking on-premises quantum systems
- **Mission or purpose**: Building large-scale quantum computers to enable breakthrough discoveries and tackle increasingly challenging applications, with a clear path to fault tolerance.

## Products & Services
- **[AC1000 — Quantum Computing Platform]**: A universal, gate-based quantum computer commercially available for on-premises deployment. Features 1,200+ physical qubits, all-to-all qubit connectivity, better-than-threshold fidelities, mid-circuit measurement with qubit reuse/reset, and real-time conditional branching — designed to support building logical qubits.
- **[Partner Program]**: Early-access collaboration program for software and application development partners to explore quantum algorithms, provide feedback, and work alongside Atom Computing's technical team on real-world applications.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of ~$191.2M across 12 rounds (as of 2026); latest reported annual revenue ~$5.3M
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Third Point Ventures (led Series B), Innovation Endeavors, Prelude Ventures, National Science Foundation (grants)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount grew ~63.6% YoY to 98 employees (2026), with +2.4% monthly growth
  - 31 active job postings; job postings up +520% year-over-year and +93.8% quarter-over-quarter
  - Expanded to offices in Berkeley, Boulder, and Austin; workforce distributed across United States and Denmark
  - 24 scholarly works with ~9,800+ citations; field-weighted citation impact of 3.7; 67% open access
  - Published industry-leading coherence times (>40s) on nuclear spin qubits in Nature Communications

## Competitive Advantages
- **Massive scalability**: Neutral-atom qubits are held microns apart by focused lasers, have no electrical charge, and can be tightly packed into arrays scaling to thousands or millions of qubits without a substantial increase in system footprint
- **Long coherence**: Use of alkaline-earth metal atoms with closed outer electron shells delivers industry-leading coherence times and insensitivity to environmental noise
- **Reduced complexity**: All qubit control is mediated by light through free space rather than individual electrical cables per qubit — a simpler path to scale
- **High fidelity**: Neutral atoms are intrinsically identical and present no fundamental physics obstacles to reaching fault-tolerant thresholds
- **Advanced technical capabilities**: First-mover positioning with mid-circuit measurement, qubit reuse/reset, and real-time conditional branching on a 1,200+ qubit commercial system

## Strategic Focus
- Advancing toward fault-tolerant quantum computing and logical qubits
- Scaling neutral-atom arrays to thousands and millions of qubits
- Expanding commercial deployment of the AC1000 platform with enterprise and research partners
- Growing the partner ecosystem for software and application development
- Scaling the engineering and technical team (significant increase in software, quantum engineering, and opto-mechanical postings)

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as collaborative and curiosity-driven — "explore the unconventional, experiment, and let curiosity be your guide"; team includes scientists, hardware/software engineers, and business professionals
- **Work environment**: Flexible working arrangements, catered in-office lunches, team gatherings, and a "come as you are" atmosphere
- **Benefits**: Comprehensive healthcare, life insurance, 401k matching, and unlimited paid time off
- **Locations**: Offices in attractive tech hubs — Berkeley, CA; Boulder, CO; and Austin, TX
- **Engineering culture**: Deep technical ownership across quantum engineering, control systems, and software; talent recruited from Rigetti Computing, Quantinuum, National Instruments, NIST, and top universities (Stanford, University of Colorado Boulder); alumni exit to Google, AWS, and U.C. Berkeley

## Sources
1. [atom-computing.com — Careers](https://atom-computing.com/careers/)
2. [atom-computing.com — About Us](https://atom-computing.com/about-us/)
3. [atom-computing.com — Quantum Computing Technology](https://atom-computing.com/quantum-computing-technology/)
4. [linkedin.com — Atom Computing Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/atom-computing)
5. [cbinsights.com — Atom Computing Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/atom-computing)

## Other roles at Atom Computing

- [Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/platform-engineer-atom-computing-boulder-6mg7ytrwqkpy) — Boulder, CO
- [Principal Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-platform-engineer-atom-computing-boulder-czdhprdra52z) — Boulder, CO
- [Senior Embedded Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-embedded-platform-engineer-atom-computing-boulder-pweseq20aq5b) — Boulder, CO
- [Senior Infrastructure Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-infrastructure-engineer-atom-computing-boulder-gqhrh0qas3jq) — Boulder, CO
- [General Application](https://feeny.ai/job/general-application-atom-computing-boulder-txp57rz50d1r) — Boulder, CO
- [Optical Engineering Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/optical-engineering-manager-atom-computing-boulder-aytvdrdshkw0) — Boulder, CO
- [Quantum Software Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/quantum-software-manager-atom-computing-berkeley-2111vsvgqg6v) — Berkeley, CA
- [Senior Systems Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-systems-engineer-atom-computing-boulder-c9bq34x14bbp) — Boulder, CO
- [Optical Physicist](https://feeny.ai/job/optical-physicist-atom-computing-boulder-rw1ypr5601m7) — Boulder, CO
- [Senior ASIC Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-asic-design-engineer-atom-computing-boulder-8xadrawfz8nr) — Boulder, CO