DDR Validation Lead, Staff (AI Accelerator Platform)

QUALCOMM, Inc.; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 146,000 - 218,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus program

RSU grants

Benefits package

Job summary

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. seeks an experienced DDR Validation Lead to drive end-to-end validation of LPDDR5X/LPDDR6 memory subsystems on AI Accelerator and flagship mobile platforms.

You will lead memory bring-up, performance validation, system stress, debugging, and production readiness from pre-silicon through post-silicon phases. In this role you will define validation strategies across emulation, FPGA, and silicon, partner with architectures, design and firmware teams, and mentor junior

Qualifications

• BS or MS or PhD in EE, CE, CS, or related field with 4+ years in ASIC design/validation.
• Strong knowledge of LPDDR4/5/5X/6 architectures and DDR controllers/PHYs.
• Experience with memory training, calibration algorithms and NoC architectures.
• Strong post-silicon debug experience.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute DDR validation strategy across emulation, FPGA, and silicon.
• Drive LPDDR5X/LPDDR6 bring‑up, training validation, frequency scaling, and low‑power state validation.
• Develop validation plans for memory functionality, performance, reliability, power and corner cases.
• Lead debug of DDR controller, PHY, firmware, SI/PI, timing, and system issues.
• Validate interactions between DDR, CPU, GPU, NPU, cache, NoC, and system software.
• Develop scalable automation, regression infrastructure, and debug analytics.
• Partner with Architecture, Design, Firmware, SI/PI, Package, and DRAM vendors to root‑cause issues.

Skills

C/C++

DDR validation

Memory subsystem validation

Post-silicon debugging

Low-level software development

System validation

Education

Bachelor's degree in EE/CE/CS or related

Master's degree in EE/CE/CS or related

PhD in EE/CS or related

Job description

Company

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > ASICS Engineering

General Summary

Qualcomm’s System Validation & Emulation (SVE) team is part of the central SoC validation organization responsible for ensuring end-to-end silicon quality across pre‑and post‑silicon phases.

This team focuses on content quality and system‑level validation enablement, offering deep exposure to Qualcomm SoCs through bare‑metal validation content, scalable automation frameworks, and complex system debugs. Engineers in this role work across HW and SW boundaries to develop, validate, and scale system‑level test content, ensuring high‑quality silicon validation across a wide range of SoC domains.

Excellent Opportunity to work on cutting‑edge SoCs across multiple product segments, including:

• Premium mobile and flagship platforms
• Data center
• AI Accelerator platform

Role Overview

Seeking an experienced DDR Validation Lead to drive end‑to‑end validation of next‑generation LPDDR5X and LPDDR6 memory subsystems on AI Accelerator and Flagship mobile platforms. This role will lead memory bring‑up, performance validation, system stress, debug, and production readiness from pre‑silicon through post‑silicon phases.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute DDR validation strategy across emulation, FPGA, and silicon platforms.
• Drive LPDDR5X/LPDDR6 bring‑up, training validation, frequency scaling, low‑power state validation, and feature enablement.
• Develop and execute validation plans covering memory functionality, performance, reliability, power, and corner‑case scenarios.
• Lead debug of DDR controller, PHY, firmware, SI/PI, timing, and system‑level issues.
• Validate interactions between DDR, CPU, GPU, NPU, cache hierarchy, NoC, and system software.
• Drive bandwidth, latency, QoS, memory pressure, and AI workload characterization.
• Develop scalable automation, regression infrastructure, and debug analytics frameworks.
• Partner with Architecture, Design, Firmware, SI/PI, Package, and DRAM vendors to root‑cause and resolve issues.

Minium Requirements

• BS or MS or PhD in EE, CE, CS, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in DDR/memory subsystem validation or silicon bring‑up.
• Strong understanding of:
• LPDDR4/5/5X/6 architectures
• DDR controllers and PHYs
• Memory training and calibration algorithms
• Cache, coherency, and NoC architectures
• Power management and low‑power memory features
• Strong post‑silicon debug experience.
• Proficiency in C/C++ and low‑level software development.

Preferred Qualifications

• Mobile SoC, AI compute, automotive, or server platform validation experience.
• Familiarity with SI/PI analysis, memory performance tuning, and thermal characterization.
• Experience driving first‑silicon memory bring‑up and volume production qualification.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.
• OR
• Master's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field and 3+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.
• OR
• PhD in Science, Engineering, or related field and 2+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statements

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).

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.

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 and Benefits

• Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:
• $145,600.00 - $218,400.00
• 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.