Senior Systems Software Engineer
Terra Quantum
| Company | Terra Quantum |
| Category | Engineering |
| Location | Germany - Hybrid; Munich |
| Remote | Hybrid |
| Employment | Not stated |
| Level | Senior |
| Salary | Not stated by the employer |
| Posted | 29 Jan 2026 |
| Last verified | 30 Jul 2026 |
| Source | Employer career page (greenhouse) |
Description
The Role
The Senior Systems Software Engineer will be a member of the core team building the Quantum Key Distribution system. The focus is on high-performance Python services on Linux, algorithm optimization and acceleration (also via hardware offload), and the role spans defining software architecture, integrating with FPGA/embedded subsystems, and turning requirements into reliable, observable software.
The Senior Systems Software Engineer leads and co-owns the overall internal QKD software architecture and client-facing software API. By setting engineering standards, mentoring, and unblocking delivery, they ensure predictable releases and a strong execution cadence.
The Responsibilities
The Senior Systems Software Engineer should expect to work in the following activities.
System architecture
Leading and co-owning the QKD software architecture: control plane services, key sifting/postprocessing integration, configuration management, monitoring, and external interfaces
Defining module boundaries and service APIs; evolving the system toward clear data/control-plane separation
Efficient implementation and hardware/software integration
Designing and implementing high-performance Python services on Linux (asyncio, WebSockets, NumPy); profiling and tuning for latency and throughput
Developing, profiling, and optimizing QKD sifting and postprocessing algorithms (signal handling/processing, error correction/information reconciliation, LDPC, privacy amplification) to maximize key rate and minimize end-to-end latency; applying algorithmic improvements and implementation techniques (vectorization, concurrency/async, memory/layout tuning, C/C++ extensions, SIMD/CUDA/GPU/FPGA offload where appropriate)
Defining and maintaining robust interfaces with embedded/FPGA system components over UART/USB/PCIe/Ethernet; respecting realtime constraints and failure modes
Guiding downstream system integration (WebSockets/gRPC/REST) and ensuring clear contracts and backward compatibility
Designing for test – building mocks/simulators and automated test systems
DevOps
Building and maintaining CI/CD with Docker and GitHub Actions; automated tests, static analysis, artifact management, and release pipelines
Establishing observability (structured logging, metrics, tracing) and operational runbooks; improving reliability and debuggability with SLOs/alerts
Embedding security and crypto hygiene by default: secure transport, secrets management, key handling, and coordination with cryptography stakeholders
Adding performance benchmarking and regression tracking for key rate and end-to-end latency; integrating profiling/flame graphs into CI and enforcing performance budgets
The Requirements
The Senior Systems Software Engineer is expected to have the following qualifications and experience.
5+ years of Python development; 3+ years leading or co ‑ owning service/system architecture for a hardware ‑ first product
Strong Linux async Python (asyncio, WebSockets), concurrency (threads/processes), profiling/tuning
Proven custom hardware integration (MCU, FPGA) over UART/USB/PCIe/Ethernet
CI/CD with Docker and GitHub Actions; automated testing, static analysis, artifact management
Experience with GPU & CUDA acceleration/optimization; SIMD familiarity
Production observability (logging/metrics/tracing) and incident/debug practices
Working knowledge of relational/key-value/time-series stores (PostgreSQL/Redis/Prometheus)
Security by Default mindset: secrets, secure transport, key/crypto hygiene &nb