Hardware Staff Engineer

Qualcomm•San Diego, CA

About The Position

Role Summary The Staff Engineer is a senior individual contributor responsible for leading the design, implementation, and delivery of complex board‑level hardware subsystems for automotive platform products. This role owns board‑level execution from concept through production and serves as a key technical contributor across cross‑functional teams, operating with a high degree of independence within an established system architecture. Scope typically spans one or more complex boards or subsystems within an automotive platform.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.
Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 3+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.
PhD in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 2+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.

Nice To Haves

Masters degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
10+ years of experience in board‑level hardware design.
Experience delivering automotive or safety‑critical hardware products.
Strong background in high‑speed digital, power delivery, and mixed-signal circuit design.
Hands‑on experience with schematic capture, simulation, and hardware debug tools (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, etc.).
Familiarity with automotive expectations such as reliability, thermal constraints, EMC, and lifecycle validation.
Experience collaborating across cross‑functional teams and with external suppliers.

Responsibilities

Lead board‑level hardware design for assigned automotive subsystems or reference designs, including schematic design, component selection, and design tradeoffs.
Own board bring‑up, debug, and validation across temperature, voltage, and operating corner conditions.
Drive power architecture implementation, clocking, reset, and sequencing for assigned designs.
Apply and review high‑speed digital, signal integrity, power integrity, EMI/EMC, and mixed‑signal design considerations in collaboration with PCB layout engineers.
Conduct and participate in schematic, layout, and design reviews to identify risks and ensure design robustness.
Partner with system, software, safety, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to align hardware design with system requirements.
Work with suppliers, ODMs, and internal operations teams to resolve component, manufacturing, and reliability issues.
Support hardware readiness through DV, PV, and SOP milestones, including issue tracking and root‑cause analysis.
Mentor junior and senior engineers through technical guidance, design reviews, and shared best practices.
Contribute technical input to platform planning, design standards, and process improvements.