Senior Staff Engineer
Qualcomm· Semiconductors· Sep 17, 2026 · 1mo ago
San Diego, California, United States of America
In office
Full-time
Staff
$180K–$242K est.
6+ years exp
Job description
Company:
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Job Area:
Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering
General Summary:
Qualcomm is a company of inventors that unlocked 5G, ushering in an era of rapid advancements in connectivity and new possibilities that will transform industries, create jobs, and enrich lives. But this is only the beginning. It takes inventive minds with diverse skills, backgrounds, and perspectives to turn 5G’s potential into world-changing technologies and products. This is the Invention Age, and this is where you come in.
For more than a decade, Qualcomm has pioneered connected car technologies and continues to play a central role in the evolution of automotive infotainment, autonomous driving, and related technologies, including 4G/5G, ADAS, and deep learning. Qualcomm works closely with standards bodies, industry consortiums, automakers, and operators to advance Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) standards and architectures. As a key member of the Towards 5G initiative, Qualcomm is also helping drive the advancement of Cellular V2X (CV2X) capabilities on the path to 5G. By integrating connectivity into the latest infotainment, cluster, and telematics systems, Qualcomm is making travel safer, more efficient, and more enjoyable.
We are looking for talented and motivated software engineers who are passionate about making a meaningful impact on the technologies and automotive products that will shape the future. Join our growing, multi-site development team and contribute to innovations that redefine mobility.
About the role You'll be the senior technical authority for the embedded Linux platform software powering automotive telematics systems — owning architecture and execution across boot, security, memory, and virtualization, from silicon bring-up through production launch with global automakers.
What you'll do
• Own the platform software stack end to end across multiple telematics chipset generations, from initial bring-up through commercialization and long-term sustaining support
• Architect boot and recovery solutions, including fail-safe and dual-image recovery paths, over-the-air update flows, and NAND/eMMC storage support
• Contribute to platform security work — mandatory access control, verified boot, disk integrity verification, and full-disk encryption — and drive automotive cybersecurity threat analysis and risk assessment for key features
• Set and defend boot-time and memory footprint targets, leading cross-team optimization efforts against firm customer commitments
• Help architect fusion configurations integrating third-party application processors with cellular modems over PCIe, USB, and Ethernet
• Plan kernel and Yocto upgrade roadmaps and release trains, balancing launch commitments against ongoing feature demand
• Ensure automotive software process compliance for all new platform feature development
• Help translate customer requirements into platform features and build configurations
• Mentor engineers across boot, security, memory, and virtualization domains, and set technical direction ahead of market demand
In this role, you will help develop next-generation Automotive Telematics products. Working with Tier 1 suppliers, OEMs, and industry partners, you will apply your system software expertise, coding skills, and problem-solving abilities to deliver innovative solutions. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams across multiple locations to design, develop, and drive system solutions through commercialization.
Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 5+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• 3+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Deep expertise in embedded Linux systems software, including kernel development, bootloaders, Yocto-based build systems, and board bring-up
• Proven track record of optimizing boot time and memory footprint on resource-constrained embedded platforms
• Strong knowledge of embedded security and automotive cybersecurity standards
• Experience delivering software to automotive OEMs within formal development, quality, and process frameworks
• Ability to provide technical leadership across teams without direct authority and successfully drive cross-organizational commitments
• Solid knowledge of system software and platform-level debugging, including pre-silicon and SoC bring-up
• Experience with industry-standard software development tools, including debuggers, code revision systems (Git, Perforce), IDEs, and build tools
• Experience with Linux kernel device driver development
• Experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS)
• Excellent programming skills in C, C++, Assembly, and scripting languages
• Experience working with AI-based software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices
• Experience working in large organizations
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent planning, time management, decision-making, presentation, and organizational skills
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Strong interpersonal and teamwork skills
• Bachelor’s degree in Electronics, Communications, or Computer Science Engineering; Master’s degree preferred
• 13+ years of software engineering experience or related industry experience, with strong C/C++ programming expertise.
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-accomodations@qualcomm.com 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).
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 :
$169,800.00 - $254,600.00
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 .
Application prep
Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.
Keywords to mirror
javapythonairest
- Platform
- eightfold
- Effort
- medium
Benefits
Benefits detected in the listing.
Vision