DSP Application Engineer, Staff

Qualcomm; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 151,000 - 221,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Canada ULC is seeking a Staff DSP Application Engineer to support DSP-enabled optical transceivers and AECs for AI and cloud infrastructure. You will work directly with customers to enable 100G/200G and 400G PAM4 solutions, bridging engineering and product teams for high-performance connectivity.

The role requires 5–7 years of hardware/optical experience, hands-on test with high-speed equipment, and strong scripting skills. Travel up to 15% may be required; located in Ottawa, Canada.

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering or related field with strong hardware background.
• Strong knowledge of PAM4 signaling and Ethernet connectivity.
• Experience with SerDes architectures and high-speed interconnects.
• Excellent analytical and troubleshooting skills, plus good communication.

Responsibilities

• Provide DSP/ECM support for Optical Transceiver and AEC systems.
• Assist customers with system bring-up, interoperability testing, and performance optimization.
• Develop technical documentation, reference configurations, and deployment guidelines.
• Collaborate with product management and engineering to gather customer feedback.

Job description

Company: Qualcomm Canada ULC

Job Area: Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Hardware Engineering

As a leading technology innovator, Qualcomm pushes the boundaries of what's possible to enable next‑generation experiences and drives digital transformation to help create a smarter, connected future for all. As a Qualcomm Hardware Engineer, you will plan, design, optimize, verify, and test electronic systems, bring‑up yield, circuits, mechanical systems, Digital/Analog/RF/optical systems, equipment and packaging, test systems, FPGA, and/or DSP systems that launch cutting‑edge, world class products. Qualcomm Hardware Engineers collaborate with cross‑functional teams to develop solutions and meet performance requirements. New Position

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.
• OR Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 3+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.
• OR PhD in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 2+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.

Staff DSP Application Engineer

About the Role

We are seeking a Staff DSP Application Engineer to support customer adoption and deployment of next-generation DSP solutions in Optical Transceivers and Active Electrical Cables (AEC) for AI and cloud infrastructure. In this customer‑facing role, you will work closely with customers, product management, system architects, and engineering teams to enable high‑speed connectivity solutions supporting 100G/lane, 200G/lane, and emerging 400G/lane PAM4 technologies.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Engagement & Technical Support

• Serve as a primary technical contact for customers integrating DSP‑enabled Optical Transceiver and AEC products.
• Support customer engagements from evaluation and qualification through production deployment.
• Assist customers with system bring‑up, feature enablement, interoperability testing, and performance optimization.
• Collaborate with internal engineering teams to resolve customer issues and improve overall product quality.
• Develop strong technical relationships with customer engineering teams and provide timely issue resolution.

Optical DSP & AEC Application Support

• Support integration of Optical Transceiver and AEC solutions into switches, NICs, GPUs, AI accelerators, and server platforms.
• Assist customers in optimizing PAM4 link performance across electrical and optical channels.
• Develop technical documentation, application notes, reference configurations, and deployment guidelines.
• Work with product management and engineering teams to provide customer feedback on product features and future requirements.

System Validation & Debug

• Perform system‑level debug involving DSPs, SerDes, firmware, optical modules, PCB channels, PMICs, and clocking subsystems.
• Analyze signal integrity and link performance using eye diagrams, BER measurements, jitter analysis, and equalization settings.
• Support characterization and validation activities in both lab and customer environments.
• Participate in IEEE 802.3 compliance and interoperability testing activities.
• Assist in root‑cause analysis for customer‑reported issues and identify corrective actions.

What You'll Need

• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field.
• 5 to 7 years of experience in semiconductor, networking, optical communications, or high‑speed connectivity technologies.
• Good understanding of PAM4 signaling, SerDes architectures, equalization techniques, and Ethernet connectivity.
• Knowledge of optical communication systems and high‑speed interconnect technologies.
• Experience using high‑speed test equipment including oscilloscopes, BERTs, VNAs, and related measurement instruments.
• Experience with Python, MATLAB, or scripting languages for automation and data analysis.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Willingness to travel occasionally (up to 15%).

Preferred Qualifications

• Understanding of optical transceiver architectures including lasers, EMLs, silicon photonics, photodiodes, drivers, and TIAs.
• Experience with optical module validation, characterization, or manufacturing support.
• Familiarity with IEEE Ethernet standards and compliance testing methodologies.
• Knowledge of DSP equalization techniques including CTLE, FFE, DFE, and adaptive equalization.
• Experience supporting data center, networking, switch, or hyperscale cloud customers.
• Understanding of signal integrity fundamentals and channel characterization techniques.

Applicants: Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation during the application/hiring process, rest assured that Qualcomm is committed to providing an accessible process. You may e-mail disability‑[e-mail] or call Qualcomm's toll‑free number found here. Upon request, Qualcomm will provide reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities to be able participate in the hiring process. Qualcomm is also committed to making our workplace accessible for individuals with disabilities. (Keep in mind that this email address is used to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. We will not respond here to requests for updates on applications or resume inquiries).

Qualcomm expects its employees to abide by all applicable policies and procedures, including but not limited to security and other requirements regarding protection of Company confidential information and other confidential and/or proprietary information, to the extent those requirements are permissible under applicable law.

Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits

$108,800.00 - $158,800.00

The above pay scale reflects the broad, minimum to maximum, pay scale for this job code for the location for which it has been posted. Even more importantly, please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Qualcomm. We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales‑incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus). In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play.