Principal Camera Sensors Engineer

Qualcomm; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 211,900 - 317,900; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive annual bonus program

Opportunity for RSU grants

Comprehensive benefits package

Job summary

A leading technology company in San Diego is seeking a Principal Engineer for their Camera System Engineering team. You will coordinate with image sensor vendors to facilitate internal development. The position requires 10+ years of experience in CMOS image sensor development and strong leadership skills. Responsibilities include designing innovative camera systems, collaborating with partners, and translating customer needs into actionable plans. The role offers a significant salary range and a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of Software, Hardware, or Systems Engineering experience.
• Experience in a role with executive interaction for 3+ years.
• Experience leading technical teams and projects.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop complex camera systems and components.
• Analyze market trends and develop strategies for new technologies.
• Collaborate with external vendors and internal partners.

Skills

CMOS Image Sensor development

Technical leadership

Camera hardware or systems design

Integration with backend ISP

Education

Master’s degree or PhD in Physics or Engineering

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Job description

Company

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area

Engineering Group > Camera Engineering

General Summary

Qualcomm Camera System Engineering team is looking for a Principal Engineer to coordinate with major external image sensor vendors to facilitate internal development of industry‑leading ISP and imaging system. The candidate is expected to demonstrate strong understanding of all aspects of CMOS image sensor development, including system level definition, component design, manufacturing, and characterization. Broad knowledge of lens optics and camera module integration is also needed. 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 Camera Engineer you will work on ideas that touch our daily life – creating everlasting connected memories and assisting in building innovative devices through human and computer vision technologies in the Mobile, Automotive, XR, IoT & Compute space. You will have limitless opportunities to learn, grow and lead the world of Imaging.

Preferred Skills

• Master’s degree or PhD in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in CMOS Image Sensor development.
• 4+ years in a technical leadership role with direct reports.
• 3+ years of work experience in a role requiring interaction with executive leadership (e.g., Vice President level and above).
• 3+ years of work experience in integrating CMOS image sensors with backend ISP.
• 2+ years of experience in camera hardware or systems design and optimization.
• 2+ years of working with operating budgets and/or project financials.

Principal Duties And Responsibilities

• Leverage expert Camera Engineering knowledge to research, design, develop, verify, debug, implement, and validate highly complex camera systems, HW or FW tasks (including Camera Image Signal Processor, 3A, Image Quality, Features, and Tuning Tools), algorithms, features, logic design, modeling, design verification, and power optimization.
• Collect and analyze sensor/module roadmaps to predict industrial trends and develop internal strategies to support new imaging technologies.
• Partner with external vendors to influence and drive their future roadmaps to align with Qualcomm imaging system design.
• Collaborate with ecosystem partners, including CMOS image sensor vendors and camera module integrators to develop innovative imaging technologies and end‑to‑end features.
• Translate customer needs and requirements into long‑term tasks and plans.
• Act as a technical lead and facilitate collaboration across organizations to design, develop, and optimize camera systems, hardware, and/or software.
• Write detailed technical documentation and feature descriptions for highly complex Camera projects to guide users and/or customers to implement output; review technical documentation for experienced engineers.

Level Of Responsibility

• Provides supervision to direct reports.
• Decision‑making is significant in nature and affects work beyond immediate work group.
• Requires verbal and written communication skills to convey complex information; may require negotiation, influence, tact, etc., involving both internal and external parties.
• Has a great degree of influence over key organizational decisions.
• Tasks often require multiple steps which can be performed in various orders; extensive planning, problem‑solving, and prioritization must occur to complete the tasks effectively.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field and 8+ years of Software Engineering, Hardware Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.
• Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field and 7+ years of Software Engineering, Hardware Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.
• PhD in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering, Hardware Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.

EEO Employer

Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or any other protected classification.

Pay Range And Other Compensation & Benefits

$211,900.00 - $317,900.00

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.