Higher Scientist – Ion Trapping

Job Description

Job title: Higher Scientist – Ion Trapping. Location: Teddington, London - United Kingdom

Job type: Full-time, permanent, on-site

Responsibilities:

• Develop pulsed laser excitation sources using commercial products and custom components.

• Design and implement experimental instrumentation to characterize photonic quantum states, including time-correlated photon detection.

• Conduct experiments to verify system performance and demonstrate that systems meet their intended requirements.

• Integrate experimental systems into ion-trapping apparatus, including control systems.

• Advance experimental hardware by developing custom instrumentation;

• Develop hardware control systems and data-analysis software.

• Perform analytical and numerical data analysis.

• Work with project teams to deliver key technical objectives.

• Collaborate with researchers, engineers, academic partners, and industry.

• Publish findings in high-impact journals and present results at international conferences.

• Contribute to proposals for future research and development, identifying promising opportunities relevant to the UK quantum industry.

• Support the commercial exploitation of ion-trap technology.

• Represent the organization within the UK and international quantum community.

Qualifications:

• Experience operating solid-state pulsed laser systems and nonlinear frequency conversion for light-matter interactions.

• Experience using instruments to characterize pulsed laser light, including autocorrelators and optical spectrum analyzers.

• Experience with time-correlated photon counting to detect and analyze photonic quantum states.

• Ability to design optomechanical systems using CAD.

• Experience designing, constructing, and testing fibre-based and free-space photonic systems;

• Experience constructing and testing radiofrequency systems for controlling photonic modulators.

• Experience developing instrumentation control software. Experience with ARTIQ hardware is an advantage.

• Ability to maintain detailed records of hardware designs, software development, experimental data, and data analysis.

• Ability to prepare scientific manuscripts for publication.

• Experience presenting results to external audiences, including academia, industry, and government.

Desirable qualifications:

• PhD or postdoctoral experience in a relevant field.

• Experience collaborating with industry, academia, or national laboratories.

• Experience working in collaborative, multidisciplinary research teams.

• General experience in laser cooling, atomic spectroscopy, or ion trapping;

• Experience with frequency stabilization of continuous-wave lasers.

• Experience fitting theoretical models to experimental data, including knowledge of statistics and data-fitting methods.

• A record of publications, funding, or commercial impact in a relevant scientific field.

Benefits and opportunities:

• Competitive salary and benefits.

• Permanent, full-time position.

• Opportunities to work with advanced experimental systems and develop specialized instrumentation.

• Opportunities to collaborate with leading researchers across academia, industry, and national laboratories.

• Opportunities for career progression as the field develops;

• Opportunities to publish research and present at international conferences.

• Opportunity to contribute to the development of the UK's quantum computing and networking capabilities.

Additional information:

• Applicants must obtain BPSS security clearance to work at NPL.

• Nationality, residency, and security requirements may apply, depending on the work involved;

• Applications and interviews may take place throughout the advertising period, and the closing date may be brought forward.

• Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as practical.

• Application closing date: 2 November 2026.

Skills at a Glance:

Required: Trapped Ions, Laser Systems, Single-Photon Detection, RF Engineering, Quantum Control Systems.

Added Advantage: Quantum Optics.