Company:Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Job Area:Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering
General Summary:The Staff Software Engineer will design, develop, and optimize the low-latency runtime that enables AI inference on next-generation accelerator hardware. This role focuses on building robust host-side runtime components, defining stable kernel/user interfaces, and ensuring high performance, reliability, and debuggability across the runtime stack. The engineer will collaborate with cross-functional teams across kernel, compiler, firmware, and CI to deliver production-quality features.
Key Responsibilities- Develop and maintain core C/C++ runtime components for model execution, memory management, and control/data paths.
- Define and evolve userspace-kernel interfaces and ensure long-term compatibility.
- Lead debugging and integration efforts across emulation environments and hardware platforms.
- Improve performance, stability, logging, and observability of the runtime.
- Implement automated tests, including unit and integration tests, to ensure feature quality.
- Produce clear design documentation and participate in technical reviews.
- Provide technical guidance and mentorship within the team.
Minimum Qualifications- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
- 8+ years of experience in systems software development using C/C++ on Linux, especially in library/API design and develooment.
- Familiarity with git, CMake and other programing languages like Python and Bash.
- Strong knowledge of OS fundamentals, memory management, and multithreading.
- Experience working with kernel/user APIs (e.g., ioctl) and low-level systems debugging.
- Experience in performance optimization, profiling, and large-scale debugging.
- Demonstrated ability to deliver complex features end-to-end in a production environment.
Preferred Qualifications- Experience with AI accelerators, inference runtimes, or DSP-like architectures.
- Familiarity with virtualization/emulation (e.g., QEMU) or device bring-up.
- Experience with security protocols or Linux platform security (e.g., SPDM/PCIe).
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks.
Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 3+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
2+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.
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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: $121,400.00 - $182,000.00
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.
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