Staff Electrical Engineer - Testing
IonQ
Pleasanton, CA · $163k–$234k a year · Posted October 17, 2026
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Where Pleasanton, CA ranks
Where Pleasanton, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #10Cities with the most jobs that need no experience in the West Coast1.2% · of 66
- #18Best cities for director and executive jobs in the West Coast21% · of 71
- #22Best cities for pay after cost of living in California$148k · of 32
- #23Best cities for AI-skill jobs in the West Coast12% · of 71
- #24Best cities for pay after cost of living in the West Coast$148k · of 36
- #25Best all-round cities for remote workers in the West Coast42 / 100 · of 39
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
Pay compared with the market
This listing pays about $198,890 a year. Across 26 open staff electrical engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $171,500 to $216,500 and the median is $187,000. That is inside the middle half of those listings, 6% above the median.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
Staff Electrical Engineer salaries by state · Check your own pay
How AI is used in this kind of work
AI use among electrical engineers is little observed so far. Measured exposure for electrical engineers: 6% (little observed).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
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About the job
About IonQ:
IonQ, Inc . [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum platform and merchant supplier - delivering integrated quantum solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. IonQ’s newest generation of quantum computers, the IonQ Tempo, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners including Amazon Web Services, and AstraZeneca achieve 20x performance results and accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. In 2025, the company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance .
Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, IonQ has operations in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington, Italy, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our quantum computing services are available through all major cloud providers, while we also meet the needs of networking and sensing customers across land, sea, air, and space. IonQ is making quantum platforms more accessible and impactful than ever before.
About Vector Atomic:
Vector Atomic , an IonQ company, is building quantum technology to transform navigation, timing, geophysical exploration, and telecommunications. Our team of engineers, scientists, software developers, and operations professionals works together to solve complex challenges and turn bold ideas into real-world solutions. We value collaboration, curiosity, and diverse perspectives, and we give every team member the opportunity to make an immediate impact while growing their skills. If you're excited to work on breakthrough technology in a fast-paced, hands-on environment, we'd love to hear from you.
We are seeking an experienced test engineer to collaborate with our diverse group of physicists, electrical, mechanical, and optical engineers. Vector Atomics has the opportunity to disrupt industries with world-beating sensor performance. Success requires rapid development of specialized, cutting-edge electronics. To support the development effort, an equally challenging effort is required to rapidly improve our verification procedures and approaches.
In this critical role, you'll be part of the leadership team defining the direction of our hardware test strategy. The right candidate will be comfortable not only with defining procedures but also with executing them. They should be able to work effectively in the lab and assist with debugging challenging board-level issues with custom electronics. They must lead by example and actively engage early-career engineers as mentors.
Location: This role is based onsite at our office in Pleasanton, CA. Travel: Up to 10%, domestic or international.
What You’ll Do
Be a team leader for a growing group that is tasked with both testing and debugging complex electronic circuits. The circuits include a complex mix of FPGAs, MCUs, mixed-signal, precision analog and photonics devices.
Collaborate with physicists, electrical, mechanical, software, and optical engineers to develop test procedures to verify electronic designs for next-generation quantum instruments.
Collaborate with engineering and manufacturing to define DFT and DFM improvements.
Create test plans for environmental, EMI and EMC testing. Oversee and manage execution of these plans at external facilities, when necessary. They must be able to adjust test protocols as needed to optimize results.
Use electronic test and measurement equipment to characterize and verify performance.
Define equipment and software to create automated data systems for production systems.
Required expertise:
BSEE/MSEE Degree combined with leadership experience testing precision instruments and/or sensors.
Must be comfortable working in a laboratory environment.
Ability to communicate effectively with coworkers and collaborators, both written and verbal. Able to create new test plans and procedures for novel instrumentation.
Organize and manage test results. Take ownership of data storage and management systems to ensure valuable test data is retained and properly documented
Experience with devising testing protocols for precision instruments. Including specifying appropriate equipment, writing programs/scripts to automate testing, and finally documenting procedures for the team to use.
Must be proficient in post-test data analysis to extract required performance metrics.
Experience designing test loads, cabling, and custom equipment to support verification work
Able to read schematics, data sheets, and technical information to define expected measurement ranges.
Proficiency with laboratory test and measurement equipment such as oscilloscopes, VNA, SA, power supplies, function generators, and DVM.
To comply with the US export control laws, Vector Atomic employees must be U.S. citizens (born or naturalized), lawful U.S. permanent residents (i.e. green card holders), and certain categories of refugees, and asylees.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience using PCB Layout tools, particularly Altium
Able to write test firmware for embedded MCUs to support testing of MCU-based PCBs.
A background with AS9100 compliance would be a plus
Experience with environmental testing for space electronics, including radiation effects, is a plus.
Vector Atomic values teamwork, open and honest discourse, and work-life balance. We offer competitive compensation and benefits including:
Platinum-level family health coverage (medical, dental, vision)
Health and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Employer 401(k) contributions
20 day