Principal Customer Engineering (CE) Lead – Server Processor Platforms

Qualcomm; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 189,200 - 283,800; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is seeking a seasoned Customer Engineering Lead to serve as the primary technical interface between strategic customers and internal teams, helping to launch and sustain server SoCs. The role starts hands-on and evolves into technical leadership as the team grows.

You will drive customer adoption from concept to mass production, work with hyperscalers, OEMs, and ODMs, and shape the team’s future structure and priorities while ensuring high performance and reliability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field and 8+ years of Hardware Applications Engineering or Hardware Design experience or related work experience.
• Master's degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field and 7+ years of Hardware Applications Engineering or Hardware Design experience or related work experience.
• PhD in Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field and 6+ years of Hardware Applications Engineering or Hardware Design experience or related work experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead hardware support for strategic customers adopting server processor SoCs, including hyperscalers, OEMs, and ODMs.
• Act as the primary technical interface for customer hardware teams during design, bring-up, validation, and deployment phases.
• Perform detailed reviews of customer schematics, PCB layouts, thermal designs, power delivery networks, and signal integrity plans.
• Support SoC interface validation and debug across DDR, PCIe Gen6/Gen7, CXL, Ethernet, and other high-speed interfaces.
• Collaborate closely with internal engineering, software, validation, and product teams to address technical challenges and customer feedback.
• Identify gaps in customer and internal design expectations and propose practical solutions or mitigations.
• Familiarize with the reference platforms and platform implementation guides developed by internal teams to effectively support customer development.
• Deliver high-quality technical documentation, training, and onboarding material for customer enablement.
• Drive continuous improvement of support processes and infrastructure to scale across customer engagements.
• Help shape the future of the server CE team and serve as a technical leader as the team grows.

Skills

Hardware design

Server platforms

Customer engagement

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Electronics/Computer Engineering

Master's degree in Electrical/Electronics/Computer Engineering

PhD in Electrical/Electronics/Engineering/Computer Engineering

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

BERTs

Job description

Company

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area

Engineering Group > Hardware Applications Engineering

General Summary

Join a high-impact Customer Engineering team enabling next-generation server processor platforms for one of the world’s leading semiconductor innovators. As a Customer Engineering Lead, you will serve as a technical interface between strategic customers—including hyperscalers, OEMs, and ODMs—and internal product teams, helping to launch and sustain industry-leading server SoCs. This role is ideal for a seasoned technical expert and communicator who thrives in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment. You will drive customer adoption from concept to commercialization and mass production, representing the voice of the customer internally while delivering best-in‑class technical support externally. You will be the founding member of a to-be‑hired server CE team and will help shape the team’s future structure and priorities. While this role will initially be hands‑on, it will evolve into a technical leadership position as the team grows. In this role, you’ll work closely with internal design, systems, and validation teams, and with external partners across thermal, power, SI/PI, and firmware disciplines. You’ll also become deeply familiar with reference platforms and platform implementation guides to ensure customer system designs meet the highest performance and reliability standards.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field and 8+ years of Hardware Applications Engineering or Hardware Design experience or related work experience.
• Master's degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field and 7+ years of Hardware Applications Engineering or Hardware Design experience or related work experience.
• PhD in Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field and 6+ years of Hardware Applications Engineering or Hardware Design experience or related work experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead hardware support for strategic customers adopting server processor SoCs, including hyperscalers, OEMs, and ODMs.
• Act as the primary technical interface for customer hardware teams during design, bring‑up, validation, and deployment phases.
• Perform detailed reviews of customer schematics, PCB layouts, thermal designs, power delivery networks, and signal integrity plans.
• Support SoC interface validation and debug across DDR, PCIe Gen6/Gen7, CXL, Ethernet, and other high-speed interfaces.
• Collaborate closely with internal engineering, software, validation, and product teams to address technical challenges and customer feedback.
• Identify gaps in customer and internal design expectations and propose practical solutions or mitigations.
• Familiarize with the reference platforms and platform implementation guides developed by internal teams to effectively support customer development.
• Deliver high-quality technical documentation, training, and onboarding material for customer enablement.
• Drive continuous improvement of support processes and infrastructure to scale across customer engagements.
• Help shape the future of the server CE team and serve as a technical leader as the team grows.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in server platform design, bring‑up, or customer-facing technical roles.
• Prior experience supporting hyperscalers, OEMs, or ODMs in server hardware deployment.
• Deep understanding of high-speed board design principles including:
• DDR5, PCIe Gen6/Gen7, CXL, SerDes, and Ethernet
• PDN design, SI/PI simulation and debug, EMI/EMC mitigation
• Experience with system bring‑up and debug tools: oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, BERTs, etc.
• Familiarity with system firmware (UEFI, BMC, BIOS) interactions during hardware validation.
• Exposure to server platform compliance and interoperability standards (e.g., OCP, JEDEC, PCI‑SIG).
• Programming or scripting experience (e.g., Python, shell) to aid automation or debug.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and leadership skills.
• Demonstrated ability to influence internal teams and manage customer engagements with high autonomy.

Bonus Skills

• Familiarity with SoC integration, including silicon debug or validation experience.
• Previous participation in server platform standardization efforts (e.g., OCP NIC 3.0, Open Compute Server specs).
• Experience with AI/ML, HPC, or cloud workload requirements on server platforms.

Pay Range and Benefits

Pay Range: $189,200.00 - $283,800.00. 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. In addition, you may qualify for an annual discretionary bonus program and annual RSU grants. Qualcomm also offers a highly competitive benefits package designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play.

EEO Statement

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.