System Validation Lead (Premium Mobile Platforms)

Qualcomm; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 174,000 - 262,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is seeking a highly experienced SVE Content Lead to drive validation strategy, test planning, content development, and execution for next-generation Premium Tier Mobile and AI accelerator platforms.

You will own end-to-end system-level validation content across emulation and silicon phases while partnering with Architecture, Design, DV, Software, Performance, Power, and Product teams to ensure comprehensive coverage and successful product execution.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of SoC validation, bring-up, architecture validation, firmware, or system software.
• Strong understanding of modern SoC architectures including CPUs, memory subsystems, interconnects, and NoC.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive system-level validation strategy for complex SoC programs.
• Develop validation plans spanning pre-silicon and post-silicon phases.
• Own end-to-end content strategy, roadmap, and validation content releases across emulation and silicon phases.
• Lead debug of complex silicon, emulation, firmware, and software issues.
• Drive cross-functional program execution across global sites and executive reviews.

Skills

SoC validation

Debugging

Leadership

Stakeholder mgmt

Communication

Emulation

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

Emulation environments

Automation frameworks

AI-based tooling

Job description

Company

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > ASICS Engineering

About the Team

Qualcomm’s System Validation & Emulation (SVE) team is part of the central SoC validation organization responsible for ensuring end-to-end silicon quality across pre- and post-silicon phases.

This role focuses on content quality, validation frameworks, and system-level validation enablement, offering deep exposure to Qualcomm SoCs through bare-metal validation content, scalable automation frameworks, and complex system debug. Engineers in this role work across HW and SW boundaries to develop, validate, and scale system-level test content, ensuring high-quality silicon validation across a wide range of SoC domains.

Excellent Opportunity to work on cutting-edge SoCs across multiple product segments, including:

• Premium mobile and flagship platforms
• Data center
• AI Accelerator platform

Role Summary

We are seeking a highly experienced SVE Content Lead to drive validation strategy, test planning, content development, and execution for next-generation Premium Tier Mobile and AI accelerator platforms. This role owns end-to-end system-level validation content across emulation and silicon phases while partnering with Architecture, Design, DV, Software, Performance, Power, and Product teams to ensure comprehensive coverage and successful product execution.

The ideal candidate combines strong SoC architecture knowledge, validation expertise, technical leadership, and program management skills to lead geographically distributed engineering teams and deliver high‑quality validation solutions at scale.

Key Responsibilities

Validation Strategy & Planning

• Define and drive system-level validation strategy for complex SoC programs.
• Develop comprehensive validation plans spanning pre-silicon and post-silicon phases.
• Identify high-risk customer use cases and translate them into executable validation content.
• Define stress, power, performance, scalability, and corner‑case validation scenarios.
• Establish platform coverage plans across Veloce, RUMI, FPGA, and Silicon environments.
• Drive coverage closure based on previous program learnings and emerging architectural risks.

Content Leadership

• Own end‑to‑end content strategy, roadmap,  assumptions? (??)
• Drive content architecture and test plan reviews across multiple subsystem domains.
• Ensure content quality, scalability, reusability, and maintainability.
• Lead content stabilization, qualification, and regression activities.
• Drive system-level content releases for HVV, SLT, and production screening environments.

Technical Leadership

• Partner with Architecture, Design, DV, Firmware, and Software teams to define validation requirements.
• Lead debug of complex silicon, emulation, firmware, and software issues.
• Drive root‑cause analysis and corrective action plans for critical product issues.
• Influence future validation methodologies, frameworks, and automation roadmaps.
• Champion innovative approaches leveraging AI/GenAI‑driven validation methodologies.

Program Execution

• Drive cross‑functional execution across multiple global sites.
• Coordinate content scrums, program reviews, readiness assessments, and milestone tracking.
• Manage external dependencies and risk mitigation plans.
• Partner with Emulation, System Debug, and Execution teams to drive program success.
• Provide regular executive‑level status updates and technical reviews.

People & Organizational Leadership

• Mentor senior engineers and future technical leaders.
• Build high‑performing global content teams.
• Drive engineering excellence, execution rigor, and scalable operating models.
• Influence resourcing, organizational planning, and capability development efforts.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in SoC validation, bring‑up, architecture validation, firmware, or system software.
• Strong understanding of modern SoC architectures including:
  • CPUs (ARM architectures)
  • Memory subsystems (DDR/HBM/LLCC)
  • Interconnects and NoC
  • Power management systems
  • Security and virtualization architectures
  • Peripheral subsystems
• Proven experience with pre‑silicon and post‑silicon validation.
• Strong debugging and root‑cause analysis skills.
• Demonstrated technical leadership across geographically distributed teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder‑management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading validation for flagship mobile, compute, AI, automotive, or server‑class SoCs.
• Expertise in system‑level content development and validation frameworks.
• Experience with emulation environments.
• Knowledge of performance, power, reliability, and production‑screening methodologies.
• Experience leveraging automation, analytics, and AI‑based engineering productivity solutions.
• Track record of driving large cross‑functional programs from concept to production.

Why Join Us?

This role provides the opportunity to shape validation strategy for industry‑leading Snapdragon platforms while influencing architecture, methodology, AI‑driven validation workflows, and next‑generation silicon products across multiple business units. You'll work with some of the industry's most accomplished architects and engineers to solve the toughest system‑level challenges at scale.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field and 6+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.

OR

Master's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field and 5+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.

OR

PhD in Science, Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.

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 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 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

$174,400.00 - $261,600.00

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.