Principal System Lead – Multimedia Systems (Android Ecosystem

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

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

RSU grants

Comprehensive benefits package

Job summary

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. in San Diego, CA seeks a Principal-level System Lead to define and optimize next-generation mobile system solutions.

You will work closely with OEMs and cross-functional teams to translate requirements into architectures using Qualcomm’s mobile SoCs and software platforms. You will focus on multimedia subsystems like camera, video, graphics, and display within Android, aiming to improve power efficiency and sustained performance in real-world deployments and low-power

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 8+ years in Electrical/CS/Engineering or related field.
• Master's degree and 7+ years in Electrical/CS/Engineering or related field.
• PhD and 6+ years in Electrical/CS/Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in semiconductor product development.
• 5+ years in a technical leadership role.

Responsibilities

• Analyze OEM use cases across camera, video encode/decode, display pipelines, graphics, gaming, and always-on multimedia scenarios.
• Propose system-level architectural improvements for next-generation product planning with focus on power-aware multimedia processing.
• Perform hands-on trade-off analysis across power, performance, latency, thermal limits, and memory bandwidth.
• Influence architectural decisions across multimedia pipelines, compute subsystems, memory hierarchies, and power management.

Skills

System architecture

Technical leadership

Multimedia systems

Trade-off analysis

End-to-end problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field

PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field

Job description

Company:

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area:

Engineering Group > Mobile Chipset PE, MDM & MSM

General Summary:

We are seeking a Principal‑level System Lead to define and optimize next‑generation mobile system solutions through close engagement with OEMs and a deep understanding of emerging multimedia‑driven use cases. As part of the Mobile Product System and Architecture organization, you will work hands‑on with hardware, software, and foundational IP systems teams to translate OEM requirements into concrete system architectures and implementation paths leveraging Qualcomm’s leading‑edge mobile SoCs and software platforms.

In this role, you will take a forward‑looking approach to system architecture with a strong focus on multimedia subsystems, including camera, video, graphics, and display technologies within the Android ecosystem. You will identify opportunities to evolve hardware and software designs to improve use‑case‑level power efficiency, performance, latency, and sustained operation, particularly in real‑world OEM deployments and low‑power modes of operation.

Key Responsibilities

Product & System Architecture (Multimedia Focus)

• Analyze new and evolving OEM use cases across camera, video encode/decode, display pipelines, graphics, gaming, and always‑on multimedia scenarios, mapping them to Qualcomm’s current hardware and Android‑based software solutions.
• Propose system‑level architectural improvements and optimizations to be incorporated into next‑generation product planning, with emphasis on power‑aware multimedia processing and sustained performance.
• Perform hands‑on trade‑off analysis across power, performance, latency, thermal limits, and memory bandwidth, grounded in end‑to‑end user scenarios and OEM integration constraints.
• Influence architectural decisions across multimedia pipelines, compute subsystems, memory hierarchies, and power management to enable differentiated OEM experiences.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with core systems, hardware design, software, and product teams to align system architecture with product roadmaps and incremental development plans.
• Partner with OEM‑facing and software teams to ensure customer requirements, Android framework constraints, and integration feedback are reflected in system and architectural decisions.
• Collaborate effectively across teams by clearly articulating architectural intent, trade‑offs, and assumptions, using data and analysis to drive alignment and technical decisions.

Technical Problem Solving and Innovation

• Tackle complex, open‑ended system problems starting from ambiguous or evolving requirements, applying first‑principles thinking and data‑driven analysis to converge on practical solutions.
• Identify gaps and inefficiencies across the multimedia hardware/software boundary and propose innovative system‑level solutions to improve user experience and power efficiency.
• Contribute to Qualcomm’s intellectual property portfolio through invention disclosures and patent filings related to multimedia system architectures and optimizations.

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.
• 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.
• 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 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).

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 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.