Senior Software Engineer

Qualcomm Incorporated; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 118,000 - 177,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. in San Diego seeks a Senior Software Engineer to design, develop, and optimize software for next-generation data center platforms.

You will lead a team of engineers, advancing virtualization, memory management, and kernel scheduling while collaborating across functions to meet security and performance requirements. The role emphasizes pre-silicon development on FPGA/QEMU, open-source contributions, and strong debugging with ARM-based platforms.

Qualifications

• Design, develop, and optimize Linux kernel software
• Contribute to pre-silicon development on ARM platforms
• Lead and mentor engineering teams on security and performance
• Collaborate across functions to meet security and product requirements

Responsibilities

• Develop features in Linux Kernel (virtualization, scheduling, memory management)
• Optimize DVFS and power/performance for ARM-based systems
• Debug complex issues using JTAG and related tools
• Contribute to upstream Linux kernel and open-source projects
• Drive system software improvements for ARMv8/v9 platforms

Skills

Linux Kernel development

KVM virtualization

ARMv8/ARMv9

C/C++

Python

JTAG debugging

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/CS/IS

Master's or PhD considered

Tools

JTAG debuggers

Job description

## Company:
Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc.

## Job Area:
Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering

General Summary:

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. Qualcomm Security Engineers perform security assessments, develop company products, and collaborate across functions to ensure performance metrics and product requirements are met.

** Must be willing to work onsite in San Diego **

General Summary:

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will contribute to the design, development, and optimization and commercialization of software solutions for Qualcomm’s next-generation data center platforms. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams and lead a team of Engineers and contribute to the advancement of critical technologies such as virtualization, memory management, scheduler and Linux Kernel.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and enhance features in the Linux Kernel , particularly in areas such as virtualization (KVM), scheduling, and memory management (IOMMU).


• Optimize power and performance management technologies like DVFS for next-generation ARM-based systems.


• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to ensure the successful delivery of high-performance, scalable software solutions.


• Debug and resolve complex software issues using tools like JTAG debuggers .


• Contribute to upstream open-source projects, including the Linux Kernel , as part of Qualcomm’s commitment to the open-source community.


• Drive improvements in system software for ARMv8 and ARMv9 based platforms.


• Analyze system requirements, understand and propose corresponding system architecture. Create and maintain technical documentation for system architecture, requirements, and development processes.


• Pre-Silicon Development on the FPGA based platform and QEMU.

Minimum Qualifications:

• • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.


• OR


• Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 1+ year of Software Engineering or related work experience.


• OR


• PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field.


• • 2+ years of academic or work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.

Preferred Qualifications:

• - Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, with 3+ years of software development experience, or equivalent.


• - Strong experience in Linux Kernel development , especially in areas such as virtualization (KVM), schedulers, and memory management and device trees.


• - Solid knowledge of ARMv8 and ARMv9 architecture and its extensions is plus.


• - Solid understanding of computer system architecture (core, cache, memory models, bus architecture, etc.). Experience in Board and SOC bringup,Device drivers, peripheral buses (SPI, I2C, USB), Memory controllers for DDR


• - Familiarity with tools like SCM tools (e.g., GIT) and debugging technologies like JTAG debuggers .


• - Prior contributions to open-source projects (e.g., Linux Kernel).


• - Strong debugging skills and practical experience with ARM based platforms.


• - Proficiency in using tools and frameworks for system and software performance management.


• - Hands-on experience with software development methodologies for Embedded Systems.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• - Leverages expert Security knowledge and experience to achieve highly critical engineering business objectives.


• - Develops highly critical new hardware and software security features and updates features into existing products; leads team to ensure security of all products is maintained throughout the product lifecycle.


• - Serves as a technical expert for performing highly advanced security assessments and evaluation of company products, including vulnerability and risk assessments, threat analysis, and security code reviews to identify potential design and implementation vulnerabilities.


• - Develops highly critical security architectures and designs for products and sub-systems and leads cross-organizational teams to adopt and implement them.


• - Identifies and drives remediation for security risks and vulnerabilities, responds to product security incidents, and collaborates with high-level customers and stakeholders regarding product security related issues.


• - Serves as a technical expert for the development and deployment of highly critical processes, trainings, and tools that result in secure product development.

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.


• - 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.

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).

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 range and Other Compensation & Benefits :
$117,800.00 - $176,600.00

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 .