Metric
Senior Research Scientist
Requirements
Requires a PhD-level physics background or equivalent, grounded in AMO physics and quantum optics, plus hands-on experience with cold-atom experiments, including laser cooling, MOTs, and dipole traps. Candidates should have experience coupling atoms to optical cavities, cavity locking, and laser stabilization, and be able to take an experiment from concept to working hardware.
Job Description
Senior Research Scientist – AMO Physics Quantum Computing
- London based
- Sponsorship available
About the opportunity
Metric is working with a well-funded quantum computing company building next-generation hardware for real-world enterprise deployment. The team has already shipped working systems to customers and is now moving into a new phase of platform development, with strong IP behind their approach and a clear path to commercial scale.
This is an experimental physics role centred on photon-photon gates realised through atom-mediated interactions. You'll be the one in the lab, trapping atoms, coupling them into optical cavities, and turning early-stage protocols into stable, repeatable demonstrators that can eventually sit inside a production system.
Core responsibilities
- Build and run the experimental setup for trapping and delivering atomic ensembles into optical microcavities
- Get atom-cavity coupling, state prep, and cavity locking working reliably, not just once
- Push the nonlinear gate protocols from proof-of-concept toward genuinely strong photon-photon interactions
- Partner closely with the research team on system engineering for repeatability and platform fit
- Feed experimental results back into strategy, what's working, what's risky, where to focus next
- Publish, file patents, and represent the science internally and externally as needed
What you need
- PhD-level physics background (or equivalent), grounded in AMO and quantum optics
- Real hands-on time running cold-atom experiments - laser cooling, MOTs, dipole traps, UHV
- Experience getting atoms and optical cavities to talk to each other, including locking and laser stabilisation
- Evidence you can carry an experiment from whiteboard to working hardware
Bonus points
- Work with dense, high-optical-depth atomic ensembles
- Fibre coupling or single-photon detection experience
- Built your own control/automation/DAQ tooling
- Taken something from lab bench toward a deployable product
- Any exposure to photonic quantum computing specifically
If this sounds like you...apply today.
Education
Skills
About Metric
Metric is a New York-founded specialist executive search firm, recognised by the Financial Times as one of the fastest growing companies. Partnering with some of the world's most innovative businesses, Metric builds high-performing global teams across Life Sciences (Metric Bio), Infrastructure, Engineering (Metric Geo) and Data Centers (Metric DCX). Through Metric Exec, the firm delivers C-suite and board-level appointments across its sectors, from high-growth businesses to investor-backed portfolios. Metric is backed by Southfield Capital and operates from seven offices across the US and UK. New York | San Diego | Austin | Fort Lauderdale | London | Leeds | Nottingham