Sr-Staff Performance Engineer

Qualcomm; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 192,000 - 288,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Restaurant d'entreprise

Job summary

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is seeking an experienced Senior Performance Engineer to drive architectural analysis, performance modeling, and system optimization for next-generation computing platforms.

You will collaborate with hardware architects, software teams, silicon groups, and product stakeholders to identify bottlenecks and influence future architecture. The role requires deep expertise in processor design, performance analysis, and low-level software, including device drivers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• 10+ years of industry experience in performance engineering, computer architecture, system architecture, or related field.
• Experience with high-performance microprocessor design (2+ years).
• Proficiency in C/C++ and scripting languages such as Python.
• Experience developing, debugging, or optimizing Linux or Windows device drivers.

Responsibilities

• Analyze and optimize performance of complex SoCs, processors, and heterogeneous computing systems.
• Develop performance models, benchmarks, and simulations to evaluate architectural tradeoffs.
• Investigate bottlenecks across CPUs, DSPs, NPUs, memory subsystems, interconnects, and I/O fabrics.
• Collaborate with hardware and software teams to define performance requirements and drive closure.
• Analyze workload behavior and identify opportunities for performance, power, and scalability improvements.
• Work with OS, firmware, and device drivers to understand hardware-software interactions.
• Develop profiling, tracing, and instrumentation methodologies to characterize system behavior.
• Interpret silicon measurements and correlate with simulation data.
• Present findings to engineering leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Contribute to architecture reviews and influence future designs.

Skills

Processor microarchitecture

Computer system architecture

Memory hierarchies

Interconnects

Performance analysis

C/C++

Python scripting

Device drivers

Education

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

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

PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related

Tools

Profiling tools

Job description

Company:

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area:

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > DSP Architecture and Design

General Summary:

We are seeking an experienced Senior Performance Engineer to drive architectural analysis, performance modeling, and system optimization for next-generation computing platforms. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in processor and system architecture, performance analysis methodologies, and low-level software, including device drivers. This role requires close collaboration with hardware architects, software engineers, silicon teams, and product stakeholders to identify bottlenecks, optimize system performance, and influence future architectural direction.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience. OR Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 5+ years of Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience. OR PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.
• 2+ years of experience with high-performance microprocessor design.

Responsibilities

• Analyze and optimize performance of complex SoCs, processors, and heterogeneous computing systems.
• Develop performance models, benchmarks, and simulation environments to evaluate architectural tradeoffs.
• Investigate system-level bottlenecks across CPUs, DSPs, NPUs, memory subsystems, interconnects, and I/O fabrics.
• Collaborate with hardware and software teams to define performance requirements and drive performance closure.
• Analyze workload behavior and identify opportunities for improvements in performance, power efficiency, and scalability.
• Work with operating systems, firmware, and device drivers to understand hardware-software interactions and performance impacts.
• Develop profiling, tracing, and instrumentation methodologies to characterize system behavior.
• Interpret silicon measurements and correlate results with simulation and modeling data.
• Present findings and recommendations to engineering leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Contribute to architecture reviews and influence future processor and system designs.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 10+ years of industry experience in performance engineering, computer architecture, system architecture, or a related field.
• Strong understanding of:
  • Processor microarchitecture
  • Computer system architecture
  • Memory hierarchies and cache architectures
  • Interconnects and SoC design
  • Performance analysis and optimization techniques
• Experience with performance modeling, simulation, or architectural analysis tools.
• Proficiency in C/C++ and scripting languages such as Python.
• Experience developing, debugging, or optimizing Linux or Windows device drivers.
• Strong understanding of operating system internals and hardware-software interactions.
• Experience using profiling and performance analysis tools.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with DSP, AI/ML accelerators, GPU, or NPU architectures.
• Familiarity with virtualization technologies, IOMMU, PCIe, SR-IOV, or SIOV.
• Knowledge of power-performance tradeoff analysis and performance-per-watt optimization.
• Experience with silicon bring-up and post-silicon performance characterization.
• Understanding of cache coherence protocols and memory consistency models.
• Experience with large-scale performance benchmarking and workload characterization.

What You'll Bring

• Ability to translate complex technical data into actionable architectural recommendations.
• Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work across hardware and software disciplines.
• Passion for solving challenging performance problems and shaping future computing architectures.
• A data-driven approach to engineering decisions and performance optimization.

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).

To all Staffing and Recruiting Agencies: Our Careers Site is only for individuals seeking a job at Qualcomm. Staffing and recruiting agencies and individuals being represented by an agency are not authorized to use this site or to submit profiles, applications or resumes, and any such submissions will be considered unsolicited. Qualcomm does not accept unsolicited resumes or applications from agencies. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Qualcomm employees or any other company location. Qualcomm is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes/applications.

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:

$191,800.00 - $287,800.00

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. 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.