  We propose an interferometric setting for the ancilla-assisted measurement of
the characteristic function of the work distribution following a time-dependent
process experienced by a quantum system. We identify how the configuration of
the effective interferometer is linked to the symmetries enjoyed by the
Hamiltonian ruling the process and provide the explicit form of the operations
to implement in order to accomplish our task. We finally discuss two physical
settings, based on hybrid opto-/electro-mechanical devices, where the
theoretical proposals discussed in our work could find an experimental
demonstration.
