Staff Engineer

Qualcomm; Markham; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tech company in Canada is seeking a Staff Engineer in Audio Customer Engineering. In this role, you will be the technical owner for audio aspects of automotive platforms. Responsibilities include leading audio integration, debugging complex audio issues, and collaborating closely with customers. The ideal candidate has a Bachelor's degree in Engineering and over 4 years of relevant experience with strong programming skills and customer interaction abilities. This position supports innovative automotive solutions.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• Experience with embedded systems.
• Knowledge of audio frameworks and diagnostic tools.

Responsibilities

• Act as primary audio technical owner for automotive customers.
• Lead audio integration and optimization on platforms.
• Debug complex audio issues.

Skills

Programming languages (C, C++, Java, Python)

Audio system debugging

Customer interaction

Documentation skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science or related field

Job description

Company

Qualcomm Canada ULC

Job Area

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering

General Summary

Qualcomm’s Automotive Customer Engineering (CE) organization partners with global OEMs and Tier‑1s to bring next‑generation digital cockpit and IVI solutions to market. The CE team is a cross‑functional team that requires strong software development and debugging skills in addition to comprehensive communication, documentation, and customer interaction competencies.

Staff Engineer – Audio Customer Engineering

As a Staff Engineer in the Audio Customer Engineering team, you will be the technical “go‑to” person for all audio aspects of Qualcomm automotive platforms, working directly with strategic customers to help them design, integrate, optimize, and commercialize advanced audio solutions. You will debug complex system issues spanning Audio frameworks, DSP, OS (Android/Linux/QNX), and customer applications; drive audio feature bring‑up and performance; and influence both Qualcomm roadmaps and customer designs through your technical leadership.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• Master’s degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 3+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• 2+ years of work experience with a programming language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.

Preferred Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in embedded systems with a focus on any of the following subsystems: multimedia (audio, video), virtualization, BSP/bootloader, compute/AI/Machine Vision, platform security.
• Experience working with Automotive OEMs/Tier‑1s or in a Customer Engineering / Field Application role.
• Knowledge of Qualcomm Automotive SoCs and audio frameworks (Elite/AudioReach/AudioLite) or similar.
• Familiarity with Android Automotive OS and audio HAL, ALSA, Gstreamer.
• Automotive audio use‑cases (hands‑free, media, navigation, IVI chimes, ANC/ASE, RSE, etc.).
• Diagnostics, logging, and performance tuning on automotive platforms. Experience with automation scripting (Python, shell, etc.) and test framework development.
• Understanding of functional safety, security, or QoS considerations in automotive systems.
• Ability to drive cross‑team alignment, influence design decisions, and represent CE in architecture and program reviews.

Roles/Responsibilities

• Act as primary audio technical owner for one or more key automotive customers on Snapdragon Automotive platforms (Gen3/Gen4/Gen4.5/Gen5).
• Lead audio bring‑up, integration, and optimization on customer platforms, including routing, latency, performance, and robustness.
• Debug and resolve complex audio issues involving DSP processing chains, HAL/framework (e.g., AudioReach/AudioLite/Android Audio), middleware, and customer applications.
• Work closely with internal Audio Software, core software, BSP, MM, and platform teams to reproduce and root‑cause issues seen on customer targets, drive fixes and patches into mainline branches and customer baselines, and provide design feedback to improve quality and debuggability.
• Develop comprehensive engineer‑level documentation, prepare and deliver technical presentations, design reviews, and training to customers and internal teams.

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. Email disability‑[e-mail] or call Qualcomm’s toll‑free number. Upon request, Qualcomm will provide reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities to participate in the hiring process. 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 proprietary information, to the extent those requirements are permissible under applicable law.

If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.