Quantum Application Scientist Team Lead
Delft, Netherlands | Hybrid | Up to €100,000
Some quantum roles keep you in the lab.
Others move you so far into management that you barely touch the technology anymore.
This one sits right in the middle.
We’re partnering with a leading quantum technology company looking for a Quantum Application Scientist Team Lead to lead a highly technical team working directly with some of the world’s most advanced quantum organisations.
You’ll sit at the intersection of customers, quantum hardware, Product, R&D and Sales — helping customers solve complex experimental challenges while developing the scientists responsible for delivering that experience.
The split is roughly 70% leadership / customer engagement and 30% technical.
What you’ll be doing
- Lead, coach and develop a team of Quantum Application Scientists
- Own team priorities, workload, development plans and performance conversations
- Support technically complex customer engagements from first conversations through successful adoption
- Understand customer experiments and identify where quantum-control, measurement or integration challenges are blocking progress
- Work alongside Sales on technical discovery, demonstrations and solution positioning
- Translate highly technical customer requirements into meaningful feedback for Product and R&D
- Help customers design effective experimental/control setups around their quantum hardware
- Build strong relationships with experimental physicists, quantum engineers and technical decision-makers
- Maintain enough hands-on technical depth to challenge assumptions and guide the team through difficult problems
- Help shape how the Application Science function scales internationally
The background we’re looking for
You don’t need to tick every single box, but you should bring strength across at least two of these three areas: deep quantum expertise, technical leadership and customer/commercial engagement.
Ideally you’ll have:
- A PhD in Physics, Quantum Computing or a closely related discipline
- Strong experience with superconducting or semiconductor/spin qubits
- Hands-on understanding of experimental quantum systems
- Experience with RF, microwave electronics, cryogenic environments, qubit control or readout
- Knowledge of quantum-control hardware, measurement electronics or experimental QPU setups
- Leadership experience — this could include direct line management, technical team leadership, project leadership or significant supervision
- Confidence working directly with customers and explaining complex technical concepts clearly
- The ability to operate between highly technical R&D teams and commercial stakeholders
Experience from organisations working across quantum computing, quantum control, cryogenics, measurement electronics or advanced scientific instrumentation would be particularly relevant.
Why this role is interesting
This isn’t a role where you simply manage a team from a spreadsheet.
You’ll still be close enough to the technology to understand what customers are trying to achieve, why their experiments aren’t behaving as expected and how the wider control stack can help.
At the same time, you’ll have genuine ownership over:
people development
customer strategy
technical direction
commercial conversations
product feedback
It’s a strong next step for someone who has built deep technical credibility and now wants to have a broader impact across people, customers and the direction of a quantum technology business.
Location
The team is centred around Delft, Netherlands and works on a hybrid basis.
Strong candidates elsewhere in nearby Europe — including the UK and Germany — can also be considered where regular travel to Delft is realistic.
Package
Up to €100,000, depending on experience.
If your background sits somewhere across experimental quantum physics, quantum applications, customer-facing technical work and leadership, I’d be very interested in speaking with you.
Apply via LinkedIn or message me directly for a confidential conversation.
