Principal System Lead – AI Systems and Frameworks

Qualcomm; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 217,000 - 325,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is seeking a Principal-level System Lead in San Diego to drive AI-centric mobile system architectures. You will translate AI use cases into scalable, power-efficient system implementations leveraging Qualcomm’s mobile SoCs and software platforms.

The role emphasizes AI workloads, on-device inference, and collaboration with OEMs and cross-functional teams to optimize performance, latency, and energy efficiency.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field with 8+ years of relevant experience.
• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field with 7+ years of relevant experience.
• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field with 6+ years of relevant experience.
• 8+ years of experience in semiconductor product development.
• 5+ years in a technical leadership role.

Responsibilities

• Product & System Architecture (AI Focus) for mobile AI workloads.
• Analyze OEM use cases involving generative AI, diffusion models, on-device inference, and camera-centric AI.
• Define architectural enhancements across accelerators, CPUs, GPUs, memory subsystems, and power management.
• Evaluate trade-offs among performance, power, memory bandwidth, latency, and thermal constraints.
• Collaborate with hardware, software, systems, and AI platform teams to align with roadmaps.

Skills

Technical leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

AI system architecture

Education

Bachelor's degree in EE/CS/CE

Master's degree in EE/CS/CE

PhD in EE/CS/CE

Job description

Company

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Mobile Chipset PE, MDM & MSM

General Summary

About Qualcomm

As a leading technology innovator, Qualcomm is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what is possible. The company drives digital transformation and enables next‑generation experiences, striving to create a smarter, more connected future for everyone.

Position Overview

We are seeking a Principal‑level System Lead to drive AI‑centric mobile system architectures through close collaboration with OEMs and cross‑functional engineering teams. As part of the Mobile Product System and Architecture organization, you will play a hands‑on role in translating emerging AI‑driven use cases into scalable, power‑efficient system implementations leveraging Qualcomm’s advanced mobile SoCs and software platforms. This role emphasizes AI systems across the stack, including generative AI, diffusion models, and camera‑centric AI workloads, with strong awareness of modern AI software frameworks from Google, open‑source ecosystems, and third‑party providers. You will focus on optimizing end‑to‑end AI use cases for performance, latency, memory efficiency, and low‑power modes of operation in real OEM products.

Key Responsibilities

• Product & System Architecture (AI Focus)
• Analyze emerging OEM use cases involving generative AI, diffusion models, on‑device inference, camera‑centric AI, and always‑on AI workloads, mapping them to Qualcomm’s current hardware and software capabilities.
• Define and propose system‑level architectural enhancements spanning AI accelerators, CPUs, GPUs, memory subsystems, and power management, with focus on scalable and power‑efficient AI execution.
• Evaluate trade‑offs across performance, power, memory bandwidth, model size, latency, and thermal constraints, grounded in realistic OEM deployment scenarios.
• Develop a strong understanding of AI software stacks and frameworks (e.g., Android AI frameworks, open‑source ML runtimes, and third‑party SDKs) and how they interact with underlying hardware architecture.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration
• Collaborate closely with hardware, software, systems, and AI platform teams to ensure architectural decisions are practical, implementable, and aligned with product roadmaps.
• Work with OEM‑facing and software teams to incorporate customer feedback, framework limitations, and evolving AI workloads into system architecture decisions.
• Clearly communicate technical trade‑offs and architectural recommendations within cross‑functional engineering forums, using data and experimentation to support conclusions.
• Technical Problem Solving and Innovation
• Solve complex AI system challenges starting from loosely defined requirements, applying top‑down reasoning and quantitative analysis to explore and converge on viable solutions.
• Identify architectural bottlenecks and inefficiencies across hardware and software boundaries for AI workloads, proposing innovative approaches to improve performance and energy efficiency.
• Contribute to Qualcomm’s innovation pipeline through invention disclosures and patent filings related to AI system architectures, optimizations, and deployment methodologies.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 8+ years of Electrical, Computer, or Software Engineering or related work experience.

OR

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 7+ years of Electrical, Computer, or Software Engineering or related work experience.

OR

PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 6+ years of Electrical, Computer, or Software Engineering or related work experience.

• 8+ years of experience in one or more areas of semiconductor product development.
• 5+ years in a technical leadership role.

Preferred Educational

• Master's Degree or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field is required for this position.

Preferred Qualifications

• 8–10 years of experience in one or more domains of semiconductor product development, including system design, architecture, hardware design and validation.
• A minimum of 3 years of experience making trade‑offs between product key performance indicators (KPIs) and costs.
• At least 5 years of experience working within a large, matrixed organization.
• 3 or more years of experience in a role that involves direct interaction with senior leadership.

Position Details

This position is based in San Diego, CA, and is open to candidates with 8–10 years of relevant experience.

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 [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.

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

$216,600.00 - $325,000.00

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. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that Qualcomm has to offer – and you can review more details about our US benefits at this link.

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