Sr. Staff Hardware Design Engineer, AI Accelerators

Qualcomm; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 255,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is seeking experienced hardware engineers to design and develop motherboard/add-in cards for AI system solutions in rack-level data centers. You will work with cross-functional teams to drive concepts from design to production, ensuring system-level performance and reliability.

The role emphasizes collaboration with ODMs/OEMs, validating high-speed interfaces, power delivery, and thermal management within a fast-paced data-center environment in San Diego, CA.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Electronics Engineering or related field.
• 6+ years of hardware engineering or systems development experience.
• Master's degree or PhD preferred for advanced roles.

Responsibilities

• Lead schematics design, PCB layouts, design reviews, component selections, mechanical and thermal designs, and develop test plans.
• Collaborate with ODMs/OEMs on rack-level design and manufacturing.
• Support rack-level system integration, validation, and deployment across multiple sites.

Skills

Rack-level hardware design

PCB design

Signal integrity

Power delivery

Thermal management

ODM collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering

Master's degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering

PhD in Computer/Electrical Engineering

Tools

Cadence Allegro

Mentor Expedition

SPICE simulation

Oscilloscopes

Job description

Job Area

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Hardware Engineering

Company

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Hardware Engineering

General Summary

Qualcomm Cloud System Hardware and Validation Engineering develops cutting-edge rack level AI inference solutions for next generation liquid-cooled data centers. As part of its rapid expansion, the team is looking for experienced engineers to join and contribute to the next round of innovative AI products that Qualcomm intends to bring to the market.

Job Overview

Design and develop motherboards/add in cards/modules for Qualcomm new AI System On Chip (SoC)/System In Package (SIP). Primary responsibilities include working with cross functional teams (mechanical, thermal, SI, PTE, regulatory, validation, manufacturing, etc.) for execution of projects from concept to production. Support rack level design and integration of cards, servers and networking switches.

Responsibilities

• Lead schematics design, PCB layouts, design reviews, component selections, mechanical and thermal designs, and develop test plans.


• Co-develop functional specifications for systems, cards, sub-systems, and rack-level architectures.


• Collaborate with internal teams and ODMs to develop and support customer-specific hardware and system requirements.


• Facilitate consensus on technical trade-offs at hardware, software, and chip design levels.


• Support architecture and card designs including accelerator SoCs, memory, I/O, power delivery, electrical/mechanical integration, and PCB definition/design.


• Participate in the design and development of rack-level inference solutions, ensuring alignment with customer requirements and system-level performance goals.


• Resolve architecture and design issues across system, card, and rack levels.


• Assist in the bring-up and debugging of hardware systems, cards, and rack-level configurations.


• Provide technical oversight of factory and manufacturing processes, ensuring quality and consistency across rack-level deployments.


• Contribute to writing Statements of Work (SOWs) and ODM product requirements; drive technical milestones and deliverables.


• Coordinate across multiple development sites, including Qualcomm locations and ODM/JDM partners in Taiwan and internationally.


• Travel to development and customer sites as needed to support rack-level solution deployment and validation.


• Influence and communicate technical recommendations across disciplines and geographic locations.


• Coordinate and deliver technical training for ODMs, with a focus on rack-level system integration and deployment.

Required Experience

• System/card/rack-level development, including architecture, design, validation, and deployment of enterprise-class hardware platforms.

Rack-Level Expertise

• Proven experience in rack-level system integration, including chassis, backplane, cabling, airflow, and thermal management across multiple cards/modules.


• Familiarity with rack-scale power delivery, including PDUs, VRMs, PMICs, and power budgeting across multiple boards.


• Experience with rack-level diagnostics and bring-up, including debug of interconnects, signal integrity across long traces/cables, and system-level validation.


• Understanding of rack-level mechanical constraints, EMI shielding, and compliance with data center deployment standards.


• Collaboration with ODMs/OEMs on rack-level design and manufacturing, including review of mechanical drawings, thermal simulations, and compliance testing.

Board-Level Design

• Deep knowledge of PCIe cards, motherboards, daughtercards, and backplane signal and power delivery.


• Expertise in chassis design, airflow optimization, and thermal management.


• Solid understanding of system software operation from bootloader to OS and application layers.

Component Qualification

• Experience qualifying PMICs, voltage regulators (VRs), clock buffers, flash memory, and connectors for use in complex card and rack-level designs.

Design & Validation

• Hands-on experience in dense, high-layer count PCB designs (8–20+ layers).


• Skilled in PCIe add-in card/module design, debugging in high-performance systems (x86 and ARM).


• Familiarity with JTAG tools for bring-up and debug.


• Experience with networking switches and high speed ethernet interfaces

High-Speed Interfaces

• Knowledge of high-speed serial I/O (6–10+ Gbps), PCIe Gen5/6, LPDDR4x/5x, DDR4/5, 200/400/800 GbE.


• Experience with long PCB/cable topologies (0.35–1.5 meter), signal integrity, and compliance with current standards.


• Ability to debug at packet/protocol level across link, transport, transaction, and command layers.

Memory & Clocking

• Experience with LPDDR4x memory technologies, DIMM layout and validation.


• Expertise in clock distribution, power distribution, SMBus, PMBus, SPI, PWM/Tach, and BMC integration.

Tools & Collaboration

• Proficient in schematic capture and PCB layout tools (Cadence Allegro, Mentor Expedition).


• Experience with circuit simulation tools (SPICE), signal/power integrity analysis.


• Skilled in using lab equipment: oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG, SMBus, serial debuggers.


• Strong collaboration with ODMs on joint designs, schematic/layout reviews, and compliance to Qualcomm design guidelines.

Firmware & Software

• Good understanding of x86 FW/SW stack and firmware architecture.


• Experience with BMC hardware/software integration and management.

Compliance & Testing

• Familiarity with regulatory, environmental, and compliance testing for rack-level systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.


• 10+ years hardware engineering/Systems development experience or related work experience.


• 4+ years of experience with circuit design (e.g., digital, analog, RF).


• 4+ years of experience utilizing schematic capture and circuit simulation software.


• 4+ years of experience with hardware design and measurement instruments such as oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, debug tools, etc.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 6+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.


• Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 5+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.


• PhD in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work 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).

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Pay Range And Other Compensation & Benefits

$169,800.00 - $254,600.00

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.

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