Next Frontier Quantum Lead - Innovation and Data Office - Associate Director

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Job Description

Portfolio: Applied Innovation – ES Growth & Innovation 

Sub Portfolio: Next Frontier        

Role title: Next Frontier Quantum Lead

About the Next Frontier:

Applied Innovation's Next Frontier focuses on emerging technologies, including Physical AI, Quantum Computing, and Next-Generation AI amongst others. This initiative translates advanced capabilities into measurable outcomes, helping clients and EY teams improve decision-making, strengthen resilience, and unlock new opportunities through technology-driven solutions.

About the Delivery Team:

EY advances innovation in Quantum by enabling regional quantum labs and supporting business-driven initiatives. The focus is on practical quantum technologies and framework that deliver measurable, enterprise-value level benefits.

Next Frontier’s Quantum team is led by Kartheek Solipuram, EY Global Innovation Quantum Leader, under the leadership of Dr. Rodrigo Madanes, EY Global Innovation Next Frontier Leader.

Position Summary:

The Quantum Associate Director will work on Quantum Technology initiatives. This role requires background, knowledge, and practical experience with the usability and impact of quantum technologies. There will be 60-70% focus on quantum safety and 30% focus on quantum compute

Essential Responsibilities of the Job:

• Provide technical and strategic leadership for the development and adoption of quantum‑safe architectures, standards, and capabilities across the enterprise.
• Drive post‑quantum cryptography (PQC) migration programs, quantum‑risk assessments, and implementation roadmaps.
• Lead complex quantum safety engagements, manage cross-functional teams, and ensure high-quality delivery of technical solutions and client outcomes.
• Shape and support go-to-market (GTM) strategy by working with Global Markets, sector teams, and alliance partners to commercialize quantum offerings.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders and clients, articulating risks, architectures, and opportunities in quantum safety and advanced cryptography.
• Advise senior technical and business leaders on quantum threats, including Shor’s, Grover’s, and Regev’s algorithms and their impact on enterprise systems.
• Produce executive-ready documentation, architecture standards, and thought leadership in quantum safety.

Quantum Associate Director Responsibilities:

Go-to-Market (GTM) & Commercial Strategy

• Support development and execution of quantum safety GTM strategy, including commercialization of PQC, quantum resistant networking, and quantum cyber defense offerings.
• Partner with sector leaders and client-serving teams to shape solution approaches and drive adoption of quantum-safe architectures.

Program & Engagement Management

Manage delivery of complex quantum safety transformations, coordinating engineering, architecture, and research teams.

• Lead a technical team of cyber and quantum developers, establishing engineering best practices, documentation standards, and architectural governance.
• Oversee quantum-risk assessment lifecycle, including threat modeling of Shor-, Grover-, and Regev-relevant scenarios.
• Direct enterprise-wide post quantum migration across PKI, CLM, KMS, TLS, and crypto services.
• Guide pilots and deployments of quantum-resistant network architectures and secure communication protocols.

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Lead design and implementation of quantum-safe strategy and architecture, including hybrid (classical + quantum) models and enterprise crypto modernization.
• Architect quantum-resistant networks, including secure routing, key exchange hardening, PQC-based secure channels, and crypto-agile communication layers.
• Provide technical leadership for quantum cyber defense initiatives-quantum-enabled attack modeling, countermeasure evaluation, and resilience testing.
• Evaluate, select, and integrate PQC algorithms (e.g., ML-KEM, ML-DSA, Classic McEliece, Falcon) into enterprise systems and products.
• Review and lead development of PoCs using quantum platforms to simulate attacks (e.g., Shor's factoring, Grover's search) and validate defensive architectures.
• Produce and review high-quality technical content, architecture blueprints, whitepapers, and executive level reporting.

Knowledge and Skills Requirements:

Technical Knowledge & Expertise

• Deep knowledge of quantum information science, including Shor's algorithm (factoring), Grover's algorithm (quantum search), and Regev's algorithms (lattice based cryptography foundations).
• Expertise in quantum-safe cryptography, PQC standards, hybrid classical-quantum architectures, and crypto-agility patterns.
• Strong understanding of enterprise cryptography including PKI, KMS, certificate lifecycle management (CLM), TLS 1.3, secure routing, and related infrastructure.
• Proficiency in designing quantum resistant network architectures and evaluating communication security under quantum threat models.
• Familiarity with quantum cyber defense principles, including quantum-enabled attack modeling and mitigations.
• Hands-on understanding of quantum compute platforms and SDKs (Qiskit, Cirq, PennyLane, Braket) and ability to review or build circuits.
• Knowledge of advanced compute methods (optimization, simulation, probabilistic models) relevant to quantum computing.

Leadership & Consulting Skills

• Proven ability to advise executives and influence decision-making in cybersecurity and emerging technology strategy.
• Strong consulting skills with experience in roadmap development, solution architecture, and client relationship management.
• Demonstrated capability to lead engineering teams and cross-sector programs with multiple stakeholders.
• Professional Skills

Education & Experience:

• MS or PhD in Cybersecurity, Quantum Safety, Computer Science, Cryptography, Mathematics, Physics, or related field with significant quantum safety experience (overall 12-15+ years)
• Hands-on experience implementing and securing enterprise cybersecurity and crypto systems.
• Demonstrated experience designing and reviewing enterprise architectures, reference models, and distributed system designs.
• Experience leading multi-year enterprise cyber and transformation programs, including TLS modernization and PKI redesign.
• Experience with quantum compute platforms, circuit construction, and algorithm validation.
• Background in optimization or simulation domains (e.g., finance, supply chain, logistics, energy).
• Familiarity with PQC standards selection, benchmarking, and pilot deployments.
• Proven track record working in global consulting or large-scale cross-functional environments.
• Experience deploying and scaling quantum-resistant networks or advanced secure communication frameworks.
• Proven technical leadership with publications, whitepapers, standards work, or executive-grade technical materials.
• Strong conceptual understanding of quantum algorithms and their security impact, including Shor's, Grover's, and Regev's work.

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