Principal / Lead Robotics Safety Engineer

Company:
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area:
Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Systems Engineering

General Summary:

About the Role

We are seeking a Principal / Lead Robotics Safety Engineer to lead the development and deployment of functional safety and safety-of-the-intended-functionality (SOTIF) frameworks for our next-generation robotic systems. This role is responsible for defining the system-level safety architecture, safety case, and safety engineering processes required to deploy robotics products safely in real-world environments.

The ideal candidate will combine deep expertise in functional safety standards (ISO 26262, IEC 61508, ISO 13849, etc.) with strong systems engineering knowledge across perception, planning, control, and embedded compute platforms.

As a technical leader, you will work cross-functionally with systems, software, hardware, AI/ML, and product teams to ensure that safety is embedded into the architecture, development process, and operational lifecycle of our robotics platforms.

Key Responsibilities

Safety Architecture & System Design

• Define and lead the end-to-end safety architecture for robotics platforms including sensing, compute, actuation, and communication systems.
• Architect fail-operational / fail-safe system designs, including degradation strategies and minimum risk maneuvers.
• Define safety mechanisms across hardware, software, and system levels.
• Guide the design of redundant perception, compute, and control architectures.

Functional Safety Engineering

• Lead development of functional safety lifecycle activities including:
  
  • Item Definition
  • Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment (HARA)
  • Safety goals and safety requirements
  • Functional and technical safety concepts
  • Safety architecture design
  • Verification and validation
• Ensure compliance with relevant standards such as:
  
  • ISO 26262
  • IEC 61508
  • ISO 13849
  • ISO 21448 (SOTIF)
  • Robotics safety standards (e.g., ISO 10218, ISO 13482 where applicable)

Safety Case & Regulatory Strategy

• Develop and maintain the system safety case demonstrating that the robotics platform meets acceptable safety targets.
• Lead safety argumentation and evidence collection across design, verification, and field data.
• Support regulatory engagement and certification activities where required.

AI/Autonomy Safety

• Define safety approaches for AI/ML-based perception and decision-making systems.

Develop strategies for:

• runtime safety monitoring
• cross-sensor consistency checks
• safety envelopes and fallback strategies
• safety validation of machine learning models

Cross-Functional Leadership

Work closely with:

• Robotics perception teams
• Motion planning and controls teams
• Hardware architecture teams
• Embedded software and middleware teams
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to safety engineers and system architects.

Verification & Validation

• Define safety validation strategies including:
• Scenario-based testing
• Simulation-based safety validation
• Fault injection testing
• Hardware-in-the-loop and vehicle/robot testing
• Ensure traceability from hazards to verification evidence.

Safety Culture & Processes

• Establish best practices for safety engineering across the organization.
• Drive integration of safety activities into development
• Educate engineering teams on safety principles and safe system design.

Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 7+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• MS or PhD in Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
• 10+ years of experience in safety-critical systems engineering
• 5+ years leading functional safety programs in robotics, automotive, aerospace, or industrial automation
• Deep expertise in functional safety standards such as:
• ISO 26262
• IEC 61508
• ISO 13849
• ISO 21448 (SOTIF)

Strong understanding of robotics system architecture, including:

• perception systems (camera, radar, lidar)
• motion planning and control
• embedded compute platforms
• Experience developing safety architectures for autonomous or robotic systems
• Experience performing HARA / risk analysis
• Strong systems engineering mindset with ability to work across hardware, software, and AI systems

• Experience with autonomous systems or automated driving (ADAS / ADS)
• Experience developing safety cases for AI-based systems
• Familiarity with safety audits and assessments, and certification processes
• Experience with simulation and scenario-based validation frameworks
• Experience with fail-operational robotic architectures
• Knowledge of cybersecurity standards (ISO 21434) and their interaction with safety
• Prior experience as Functional Safety Manager or Safety Architect

Leadership Expectations

As a Principal Engineer, you will:

• Serve as a technical authority on robotics safety
• Influence system architecture decisions across the organization
• Mentor safety and systems engineers
• Shape long-term safety strategy for robotics platforms

Impact

Your work will directly enable the safe deployment of next-generation robotics and autonomous systems, ensuring that complex autonomous behaviors operate safely in dynamic real-world environments.

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 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).

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Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:
$192,600.00 - $289,000.00

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.