Senior Manager, System Operations

Job Description

Quantum is now, and it's built here.

Oxford Ionics, now part of IonQ, is pioneering the next generation of quantum computing. Using our world-leading trapped-ion technology, we’re building the most powerful, accurate and reliable quantum systems to tackle problems that today’s supercomputers cannot solve. Joining Oxford Ionics means becoming part of a global IonQ team that is transforming the future of quantum technology - faster, at scale, and with real world impact.

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum company delivering solutions to solve the world’s most complex problems. IonQ’s newest generation quantum computers, IonQ Tempo and IonQ Forte Enterprise, are the latest in cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners such as Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, and NVIDIA achieve 20x performance results. The company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance in 2025.

The company is accelerating its technology roadmap and intends to deliver the world’s most powerful quantum computers with 2 million qubits by 2030 to accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. IonQ’s advancements in quantum networking position the company as a leader in building the quantum internet.

We are looking for a Senior Manager, System Operations to join our System Operations team at IonQ. In this role, you will be responsible for leading the team that keeps our quantum computers running reliably for customers worldwide, while improving resilience, performance, throughput, and efficiency across the fleet. You will contribute to the team’s mission of ensuring the smooth operation, deployment, and continuous improvement of our commercial quantum systems. You’ll play an important part in shaping the operational processes, tools, and systems that support our work in building the world’s most advanced quantum systems.

What you'll be responsible for:

In this position, you will work on leading a team of Operating Physicists, supporting the effective delivery of reliable fleet operations, system deployments, operational readiness, and continuous system improvement. You’ll have the opportunity to improve reliability, strengthen operational performance, and influence future product and technology development through operational insight.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead and develop a team of physicists responsible for maintaining and improving IonQ’s commercial quantum computing fleet

• Build team strategy and tactical plans across fleet operations, incident management, deployment, and operational improvement
• Manage priorities, schedules, costs, inventory, and sparing strategies across the operations programme
• Collaborate cross-functionally with engineers, physicists, senior leaders, customers, and vendors to improve operational outcomes and influence future designs
• Define and manage key performance metrics, while leading resolution of complex operational issues impacting commercial QPU systems

Requirements

To be successful in this role, you’ll bring a strong background in physics or a related technical field, combined with experience leading teams in complex operational, engineering, or systems environments. We’re looking for someone who can balance technical depth with clear people leadership, helping teams solve difficult system-level problems while operating in a fast-moving, highly technical business.

You’ll need to be comfortable working across disciplines, communicating clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences, and using sound judgement to improve reliability, resilience, and operational performance. Experience in quantum computing is valuable, but we’re equally interested in leaders with strong exposure to complex systems, DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering, automation, or 24/7 operations.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Physics or a related field, with experience managing physicists, scientists, system engineers, or other technical teams.
• 5+ years of hands-on technical leadership and people management experience, ideally including ownership of multiple projects, priorities, and deliverables.
• Ability to identify design flaws in production systems and communicate practical improvements to increase reliability and performance.
• Experience with operational excellence practices, including incident management, Learning From Incidents, reliability engineering, or resilience engineering.
• Exposure to automation, calibration, distributed on-call environments, or relevant programming languages such as Python, Go, or JavaScript.

Benefits

Be part of a team that’s shaping the future of quantum. We offer more than just a role, you’ll join a world-class community of scientists, engineers and innovators working to unlock the full potential of quantum computing.

We offer a range of benefits, including opportunities to further your career alongside industry leaders, a competitive salary with IonQ stock options, an annual performance bonus, generous annual leave, flexible hybrid working, private medical and dental insurance for you and your family, and much more.

Join us and be part of the future of quantum computing.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.