Test & Automation / Test Development Engineer
Delft, Netherlands
What will you do?
About Qblox
Qblox is a deep-tech scaleup whose mission is to accelerate the worldwide race towards scalable quantum computers. We do this by providing some of the world's most advanced quantum control stacks to laboratories and quantum startups across the globe.
Our hardware and software sit right next to the quantum chips, giving experimentalists precise control and readout of their qubits. Through our open-source interfaces qblox-scheduler and qblox-instruments, users can write and execute experiments and algorithms using Python – from defining quantum circuits to compiling down to our quantum assembly, Q1ASM.
We offer a dynamic environment where engineering meets cutting-edge physics research.
About the role
You'll join our Test & Automation Engineering team, which owns test strategy at Qblox — defining what we test, how we test it, and the quality bar for everything that ships — with input from hardware, firmware, software, and quality teams. The team also lends its automation expertise to adjacent efforts like characterization workflows and production setups, owned by other teams.
This is a software engineering role with a strong hardware sensibility. You'll spend most of your time writing Python and designing test frameworks, but you'll also be in the lab — building physical setups and working through problems that cross the hardware/software boundary. You don't need to be an RF or hardware engineer, but you should be comfortable reading a datasheet, holding a probe, and reasoning about what a measurement is actually telling you.
Note: a physics or quantum computing background is nice to have, but not required.
What you will do
Shape and execute our test strategy across hardware and software
Design, build, and maintain automated test setups, including the selection and integration of T&M equipment
Bring your automation expertise to adjacent efforts like characterization and production
Write robust, maintainable Python code using OpenTAP and Robot Framework
Improve test coverage, reliability, and execution speed across our test suites
Debug issues that span instrumentation, hardware, firmware, and software
Participate in code reviews and help raise the engineering standard within the team
Job requirements
What we're looking for
Must-haves
3+ years of experience in software engineering, with a meaningful share of that time spent on test development or automation
Strong Python skills and solid software engineering fundamentals — OOP, design patterns, and a sense for when to apply them
Comfortable in a Linux command-line environment — shell, scripting, and debugging on embedded targets
Hardware fundamentals — comfortable choosing and working with T&M equipment (spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, AWGs, RF signal generators, and more) and building physical test setups
Experience designing or extending automated test frameworks
Solid grasp of testing concepts across the hardware/software spectrum
Methodical problem-solving and debugging skills, with the patience to chase issues across hardware/firmware/software boundaries
Nice-to-haves
Experience with OpenTAP and/or Robot Framework
ISTQB certification or equivalent exposure to formal testing methodology
Signal processing fundamentals and the ability to apply them when interpreting measurements
Familiarity with RF concepts and FPGAs
Experience with CI/CD pipelines that include hardware in the loop
Experience working in a high-tech, R&D-driven startup or scaleup environment (semiconductor, RF/microwave, high-speed electronics, radar systems)