Thermal Limits Engineer, Senior Staff

QUALCOMM, Inc.; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 187,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is seeking a Systems Performance Engineering Lead to drive power, performance, and thermal optimization across Qualcomm's Snapdragon platforms.

You will lead collaboration with software, hardware, and architecture teams to meet demanding system requirements and deliver engineering excellence across multiple projects. The role focuses on defining testing plans, mentoring engineers, and communicating findings to senior executives, with emphasis on server and data-center

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Computer Engineering.
• 10+ years of power and performance analysis experience on complex SoCs.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Self-starter with ability to work independently.
• Experience with power and performance benchmarks and system interdependencies.
• Experience with server hardware and architecture.
• Familiarity with memory hierarchy and system interconnects.
• Proficiency in ARMv8/v9 architectures and related concepts.
• Knowledge of SW power management stacks and schedulers.
• Programming/scripting in Python and C/C++.

Responsibilities

• Identify sustained and transient thermal and electrical requirements and lead investigations around limits management hardware architectures and protection mechanisms.
• Define and develop next generation thermal and limits management strategies for Qualcomm products, with a priority on server business unit needs.
• Define and conduct thermal and limit systems testing and validation on silicon and system-level platforms.
• Work closely with power and performance teams to optimize thermal and power trade-offs.
• Define and document thermal, performance and power analysis plans and updates for system use-cases across multiple workloads (CPU, GPU, AI/ML) as well as concurrent scenarios.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement optimal power, performance, and thermal solutions.
• Provide technical management, mentor and guide engineers to successfully execute multiple programs.

Skills

Power and performance analysis

Python

C/C++

ARM architecture

Server hardware

System interconnects

Communication skills

Independent worker

Benchmarks & testing

Education

Master’s degree in Computer Engineering

10+ years post-silicon experience

Job description

Company: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area: Engineering Group, Engineering Group > PPT Systems 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.

As a Qualcomm Systems Engineering Team member you will research, design, develop, simulate, and/or validate systems-level software, hardware, architecture, algorithms, and solutions that enables the development of cutting-edge technology. Qualcomm Systems Engineers collaborate across functional teams to meet and exceed system-level requirements and standards.

Qualcomm's System Performance Team is responsible for optimizing and validating performance for Qualcomm Snapdragon Chipsets across all business units such as Server, Mobile, and Compute, Automotive, and IOT.

In the role of System Performance Engineering Lead, you will lead collaboration with software, hardware, and architecture teams to optimize power, performance, and thermal behavior of the system, primarily focused on Qualcomm's business unit needs. You will leverage your advanced systems knowledge and experience to research, simulate, and validate performance and ensure product thermal and electrical requirements are met. You will be responsible for leading activities to achieve engineering excellence across multiple projects.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify sustained and transient thermal and electrical requirements and lead investigations around limits management hardware architectures and protection mechanisms
• Define and develop next generation thermal and limits management strategies for Qualcomm products, with a priority on server business unit needs
• Define and conduct thermal and limit systems testing and validation on silicon and system-level platforms
• Work closely with power and performance teams to optimize thermal and power trade-offs
• Define and document thermal, performance and power analysis plans and updates for system use‑cases across multiple workloads (CPU, GPU, AI/ML) as well as concurrent scenarios
• Identify areas of performance optimization in the SoC for both Software and Hardware architectures
• Direct triage of complex performance issues to determine root-cause and present results to internal and external stakeholders
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (product management, hardware, and software engineering, etc.) to implement optimal power, performance, and thermal solutions.
• Provide technical management, mentor and guide engineers to successfully execute multiple programs.
• Plan tasks, prioritize activities and track progress.
• Define and develop automation and leverage generative AI tools for the team to operate more efficiently
• Prepare clear and concise reports and recommendations for product teams up to senior executives to help drive business decisions and next generation architecture choices

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Computer Engineering
• 10+ years of practical post-silicon experience of power and performance analysis of complex SoCs
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Self‑starter and able to work independently.
• Experience with industry power and performance benchmarks along with system interaction and dependencies
• Working experience in computer hardware and architecture
• Experience working with server thermal and/or electrical requirements
• Understanding of memory hierarchy, and system interconnects
• Understanding of ARM SoC concepts and architecture specifications like SMMU, GIC, Coresight‑PMU, and various bus interface protocols
• Knowledge and experience in ARM v8 and v9 specifications
• Understanding of system power/performance analysis tools and techniques
• Knowledge of SW Power management stacks and scheduler behavior
• Strong programming and scripting skills (Python, C/C++)

Applicants: 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).

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:

$186,700.00 - $280,100.00

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.