SoC Systems & Infrastructure Engineer (Design • Validation • Debug • FPGA • Emulation • Software)

Company:

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area:

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > ASICS Engineering

General Summary:

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm is a global technology leader driving innovations in wireless communications, AI, computing, and connected systems. Our engineering teams develop industry-leading silicon, software, FPGA prototyping platforms, emulation systems, and validation solutions that enable the next generation of mobile, automotive, AI, and edge computing products.

Role Summary

We are seeking highly motivated engineers to join Qualcomm's SoC Design, Validation, Debug, Infrastructure, FPGA, and Emulation organizations. In this role, you will work on industry-leading SoCs and development platforms spanning design, validation, system debug, silicon characterization, CAD software, FPGA prototyping, and emulation.

You will collaborate closely with architects, RTL designers, verification engineers, software developers, and validation teams to develop innovative solutions that improve product quality, accelerate system bring-up, and enable next-generation computing platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and enhance solutions supporting SoC design, validation, debug, FPGA prototyping, and emulation environments.
• Design, implement, validate, and debug hardware and software components used in advanced SoC development platforms.
• Perform pre-silicon and post-silicon bring-up, failure analysis, root-cause investigation, and performance characterization.
• Develop automation, infrastructure, and tooling using modern programming languages and scripting environments.
• Support debugging of low-level hardware and software issues across complex SoC platforms.
• Analyze system performance, power, functionality, reliability, and timing across multiple subsystems.
• Collaborate with global engineering teams, technology partners, and tool vendors to improve methodologies, workflows, and product quality.
• Leverage automation and AI technologies to improve engineering productivity and debug efficiency.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas:
  • ASIC / SoC Design
  • Hardware or System Debug
  • Validation Engineering
  • FPGA Development
  • Emulation Platforms
  • CAD / EDA / Software Development
• Strong analytical, debugging, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, cross-functional environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• Experience with complex SoC architectures including CPUs, DSPs, GPUs, DDR, NoCs, peripherals, and interconnects.
• Experience with Linux and embedded software development.
• Familiarity with modern AI-assisted engineering workflows and automation technologies.

Core Technical Skills

Programming & Software

• C/C++
• Python
• Tcl
• Perl
• Linux / Embedded Linux
• Software Design and Development Practices
• Automation and Scripting

Hardware & SoC

• ASIC Design
• SoC Architecture
• Hardware Validation
• Hardware Debug
• Performance and Power Analysis
• RTL Design
• Verilog / SystemVerilog
• FPGA Design

Tools & Infrastructure

• JTAG Debug
• Git
• JIRA
• CI/CD Automation Flows
• Simulation, Emulation, and Prototyping Tools
• Linux Development Environments
• Hardware and Software Debug Tools

Specialized Skills Areas: Candidates may specialize in one or more of the following domains:
 

Content and Validation:
SoC/System Validation Expertise – End-to-end pre-silicon and post-silicon validation, bring-up, system integration, and silicon debug.

• Hardware-Software Co-Debug – Strong debugging across SoC architecture, embedded software, firmware, drivers, and hardware interfaces.
• Validation Content & Framework Development – Design scalable test content, automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, analysis, and debug infrastructure.
• Low-Level Programming – Proficiency in C/C++, Python, Assembly, Linux, device drivers, and bare-metal software development.
• Architecture & Domain Knowledge – Deep understanding of CPU, DDR, NoC/interconnects, memory hierarchy, clock/power management, low-power modes, and performance architecture.
• Performance, Power & Concurrency Analysis – System-level validation of bandwidth, latency, QoS, throughput, scalability, and power-performance tradeoffs.
• Pre-Silicon Platforms – Experience with simulation, emulation (RUMI/Veloce/FPGA), RTL understanding, and validation readiness.
• AI-Driven Validation – Applying AI/ML to improve validation productivity.
• Lab & Debug Tools – Hands-on experience with JTAG, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, kernel debuggers, and silicon debug methodologies.
• Technical Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration – Work effectively across architecture, design, firmware, software, and validation teams to drive silicon quality.

Silicon Validation & Debug

• Pre-silicon and post-silicon bring-up
• Failure analysis and root-cause debugging
• Platform-level debug
• Lab equipment usage
• JTAG and trace-based debugging
• PVT and marginality analysis
• AI-assisted debug automation

Power & Performance Validation

• Power characterization
• Thermal analysis
• Vmin/Fmax characterization
• CPU/GPU/DDR/NoC analysis
• Performance optimization
• Low-power design methodologies

DFT & Manufacturing Validation

• MBIST
• ATPG
• Structural testing
• Yield analysis
• Scan-based debug
• Silicon characterization

FPGA Firmware & Embedded Systems

• Xilinx and Intel FPGA platforms
• FPGA firmware development
• Embedded Linux
• PCIe, AXI, Ethernet, and I2C protocols
• High-speed digital design
• Clock domain crossing and timing closure

Emulation & Platform Methodology

• FPGA prototyping
• Palladium and Veloce platforms
• Emulation build generation
• Platform bring-up
• System-level debug methodologies
• Timing closure and deployment flows

CAD & EDA Software Development

• CAD tool development
• Algorithms and data structures
• Emulation infrastructure
• Synthesis optimization
• Partitioning
• Clock optimization
• Compute and storage optimization

Why Join Us

• Work on industry-leading mobile, AI, automotive, and computing SoCs.
• Collaborate with world-class engineers across hardware, software, FPGA, emulation, validation, and debug domains.
• Solve challenging technical problems that span the entire silicon development lifecycle.
• Gain exposure to cutting-edge technologies, advanced development platforms, and large-scale engineering infrastructure.
• Help shape the future of connected computing, AI, and next-generation semiconductor products.

Build the future of AI and mobile computing. From SoC design and validation to silicon debug, FPGA prototyping, emulation, and software infrastructure, Qualcomm offers opportunities to work across the full spectrum of semiconductor development.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field.

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:

$121,800.00 - $182,600.00

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.