[ahelwer]

Google, Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft all have quantum programs which use "regular" software engineers in various roles - for example, writing software to support researchers working in the labs. That's what I did for Microsoft. If you want to work on actual research yourself though, you'll probably need a PhD. There are some non-PhD positions that do research-adjacent work like simulating, implementing & refining researcher findings for the specific hardware the company is developing, but those are quite competitive/difficult to get (I tried!)

Microsoft also has a fairly large team working on Q# and the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit. That would also involve research-adjacent things like efficiently compiling programs to specific quantum device layouts with appropriate error correction schemes, etc.