Director, Cryostat Systems

PsiQuantum's mission is to build the first useful quantum computers: machines capable of delivering the breakthroughs the field has long promised. Since our founding in 2016, our singular focus has been to build and deploy million-qubit, fault-tolerant quantum systems. 

Quantum computers harness the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that even the most advanced supercomputers or AI systems will never reach. Their impact will span energy, pharmaceuticals, finance, agriculture, transportation, materials, and other foundational industries. 

Our architecture and approach is based on silicon photonics. By leveraging the advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry, including partners like GlobalFoundries, we use the same high-volume processes that already produce billions of chips for telecom and consumer electronics. Photonics offers natural advantages for scale: photons don't feel heat, are immune to electromagnetic interference, and integrate with existing cryogenic cooling and standard fiber-optic infrastructure. 

That approach has since been tested at the highest level of scrutiny the U.S. government applies to emerging technology, and it has held up. In 2025, PsiQuantum closed a $1 billion funding round that valued the company at $7 billion. In 2026, the U.S. Department of Commerce signed a $100 million Letter of Intent under the CHIPS and Science Act, followed by a $125 million agreement with DARPA under Stage C of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, PsiQuantum's most valuable U.S. government agreement to date. This year, we also broke ground on our utility-scale quantum computer in Brisbane, Australia, and continued building out our Chicago site. Victor Peng, our CEO, and co-founder Jeremy O'Brien, now Executive Chairman, lead a team and board that reflects how seriously the world is taking this build, joined this year by Intel's Lip-Bu Tan and Atomico's Niklas Zennström. 

PsiQuantum also develops the algorithms and software needed to make these systems commercially valuable. Our application, software, and industry teams work directly with leading Fortune 500 companies, including Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Mitsubishi Chemical, to prepare quantum solutions for real-world impact. 

Quantum computing is not an extension of classical computing. It represents a fundamental shift, and a path to mastering challenges that cannot be solved any other way. The potential is enormous, and we now have the funding, the government validation, and the sites under construction to make it real. 

Job Summary:

The Cryostat System Director leads the design, development, procurement, manufacturing, installation, and commissioning of PsiQuantum’s cryostat systems operating in the 2.0–4.5 K range, with thermal shields operating at approximately 80 K. This role manages a team of five engineers and owns the cryostat technical direction from conceptual design through production deployment. The Cryostat System Director leads the development of the cryostat design and architecture. The role works closely with the Quantum Computer System Group to refine performance and interface requirements. The position also works with engineering partners, manufacturers, and Supply Chain to establish scalable manufacturing and procurement strategies for the vacuum vessel, helium vessel, thermal shields, cold plates, feedthroughs, and associated cryogenic systems.

Responsibilities:

Engineering – Cryostat System Design

• Lead the conceptual and preliminary design of PsiQuantum cryostat systems, including the vacuum vessel, helium vessel, thermal shields, cold plates, piping, feedthroughs, instrumentation, and system interfaces.
• Define and maintain the cryostat system architecture, design requirements, performance requirements, and technical specifications:
  • Cooling performance and thermal loads.
  • Cold plate Design [2.0 K – 4.5 K]
  • Thermal Shield Design  80 K.
  • Helium and nitrogen circuits and interfaces.
  • Vacuum requirements and insulation-vacuum performance.
  • Electrical and optical feedthrough requirements.
  • Instrumentation and measurement interfaces.
  • Mechanical, structural, and installation interfaces.
  • Overall cryostat integration with the quantum-computing system.
  • Overall cryostat integration with the Cryogenic Distribution System and surrounding architecture.
• Lead the development and review of drawings, layouts, process diagrams, piping concepts, and equipment interfaces.
• Direct mechanical, thermal, structural, vacuum, and fluid-dynamic analyses and ensure that the results are incorporated into the design.
• Ensure that the cryostat design is manufacturable, maintainable, testable, reliable, and scalable for large-volume deployment.

Team Leadership

• Manage and provide technical direction to a team of five cryostat engineers.
• Establish priorities, work plans, design reviews, technical standards, and development milestones.
• Review engineering work, calculations, drawings, specifications, analyses, and supplier deliverables.
• Develop team capabilities in cryogenic mechanical design, vacuum systems, thermal analysis, fluid dynamics, instrumentation, and system integration.
• Coordinate activities with Process Controls, Cryogenic Distribution, Cryoplant, Operations, System Engineering, Facilities, Procurement, and Supply Chain.

Manufacturing Strategy and Vendor Development

• Work with engineering partners and vendors to develop the manufacturing strategy for cryostat components and assemblies.
• Define the required balance between in-house engineering, supplier design, built-to-print manufacturing, and system-level supplier responsibility.
• Develop manufacturing approaches for: Vacuum vessels, Helium vessels, Thermal shields, Cold plates.
• Cryogenic piping and distribution components.
• Electrical and optical feedthroughs.
• Instrumentation and vacuum hardware.
• Review supplier designs, manufacturing procedures, welding and assembly processes, inspection plans, quality documentation, and test procedures.
• Support vendor selection and technical evaluations in coordination with Procurement and Supply Chain.

Procurement and Deployment

• Support the development of the cryostat procurement strategy for large-volume production with Supply Chain.
• Work with Supply Chain to define sourcing, supplier qualification, production capacity, cost, lead time, quality, and delivery strategies.
• Prepare technical specifications, statements of work, requests for quotation, and technical evaluation criteria.
• Provide technical oversight during procurement, manufacturing, factory acceptance testing, delivery, installation, commissioning, and performance testing.
• Coordinate with Facilities and contractors to ensure that building, platforms, utilities, installation, and system interfaces are properly defined.
• Support the transition from development hardware to repeatable production and site deployment.

Experience/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Mechanical Engineering, Cryogenic Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience designing large cryostats, vacuum vessels, helium systems, or other large-scale cryogenic systems.
• Experience in fluid dynamics and mechanical design for cryogenic and vacuum applications.
• Deep understanding of mechanical analysis for vacuum vessels, pressure vessels, piping, supports, and thermal-mechanical structures.
• Experience developing liquid helium and liquid nitrogen piping systems and associated vacuum vessels.
• Strong understanding of heat transfer, including Thermal conduction, contact resistance, radiation, isolation, and heat-leak management.
• Familiarity with single-phase and two-phase cryogenic flow.
• Experience with cryogenic instrumentation, including Low-temperature thermometry, Liquid helium level, Pressure, Vacuum, Cryogenic valves.
• Experience designing or integrating electrical and optical feedthroughs, cables, fibers, connectors, and interfaces across vacuum boundaries and cryogenic temperatures.
• Experience with vacuum hardware, vacuum joints and flanges, feedthroughs, leak testing, and insulation-vacuum systems.
• Experience directing or reviewing mechanical and thermal analyses.
• Experience with ANSYS and Thermal Desktop.
• Experience with 3D CAD tools; experience with NX, SolidWorks, or equivalent systems is desirable.
• Experience leading engineering teams and coordinating multidisciplinary technical activities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with cryogenic systems operating at 2 K, 4 K, and 77–80 K.
• Experience with superconducting systems, quantum-computing hardware, particle accelerators, space systems, or other demanding cryogenic applications.
• Experience with large welded stainless-steel vacuum vessels and pressure-boundary manufacturing.
• Experience developing thermal shields, multilayer insulation, cold plates, and high-performance thermal interfaces.
• Experience with cryogenic heat exchangers and thermosyphon systems.
• Experience with factory acceptance testing, site installation, commissioning, and performance verification.
• Experience working with formal configuration management, requirements management, and engineering change-control processes.

PsiQuantum provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. PsiQuantum does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable laws.

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