Lead Robotics Software Engineer - Qualcomm Robotics

Qualcomm • San Diego, CA

1d

About The Position

About Qualcomm Robotics
Qualcomm Robotics is building the software and silicon foundation for the next generation of intelligent machines - from AMRs and cobots to emerging humanoids by pairing heterogeneous compute (CPU/GPU/DSP/NPU) with a full ROS 2–based SDK and developer tooling for perception, navigation, manipulation, and fleet workflows. Our expertise bring ondevice AI, advanced camera pipelines, and connectivity to the edge robotics developer ecosystem.
The Opportunity
As Lead Robotics Software Engineer, you will be the senior technical owner for Qualcomm’s robotics software platform, defining the endtoend architecture, raising the engineering bar across core middleware and services (ROS 2/DDS), and leading crossfunctional teams to deliver productiongrade SDKs and reference solutions that customers can take to market. You’ll combine deep systems expertise with handson leadership across perception/SLAM, planning & control, realtime Linux/MCU, and ondevice AI shipping robust software on Qualcomm robotics SoCs.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• OR Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 7+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• OR PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• 4+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.

Nice To Haves

• 15+ years in software engineering, with 8+ years building robotics platforms or complex realtime distributed systems; proven record shipping SDKs or core runtimes.
• Expert in C++ (modern) and Python with production experience in ROS 2 and DDS (QoS, discovery, message design, and tracing).
• Depth in at least two of: SLAM/visualinertial odometry, dense/stereo depth, semantic mapping, planning & controls, or manipulation—with demonstrable systemlevel integration on embedded platforms.
• Strong background in Linux for robotics, realtime considerations, and MCU/RTOS interactions (time sync, safety islands, bootloaders, field firmware management).
• Performance engineering on heterogeneous SoCs (CPU/GPU/NPU/DSP) and camera/ISP stacks; handson profiling and optimization.
• BS/MS in CS, EE, Robotics, or related field (PhD a plus). ​
• Track record leading large crossfunctional efforts (architecture docs, design reviews, derisking, postmortems) that landed in customer products.
• Experience delivering developerfacing SDKs and documentation; familiarity with Qualcomm robotics stacks/QIRP SDK and ROS 2 package ecosystems.
• Demonstrated results in ondevice AI for perception or policy (model optimization, quantization, or pipeline fusion) on edge devices.
• Contributions to ROS/ROS 2 or relevant opensource robotics projects; publications/patents in SLAM, perception, manipulation, or realtime systems.

Responsibilities

• Own the software architecture for the Qualcomm Robotics platform interfaces, runtime, QoS, and safety envelopes across Linux + MCU subsystems; drive DDS/ROS 2 patterns for reliable, realtime data flow on heterogeneous compute.
• Lead the platform roadmap and technical design reviews across perception (VIO/VSLAM, DFS), mapping, semantic scene understanding, navigation, manipulation, and SDK components; ensure high performance and low power on our SoCs.
• Ship the QIRP/Robotics SDK with highquality APIs, samples, and build toolchains; harden CI/CD, release criteria, and developer experience for internal and external partners.
• Drive realworld validation using simintheloop and HIL; establish metrics for robustness, determinism, and regression across camera/IMU/LiDAR stacks and wholerobot scenarios.
• Optimize for heterogeneous compute (CPU/GPU/DSP/NPU) and camera pipeline/ISP; guide teams on concurrency, memory/power budgets, and accelerator utilization for ondevice AI.
• Champion safety & reliability practices and interfaces compatible with relevant standards (e.g., ISO 26262/IEC 61508 alignment where applicable) and design for field diagnostics, observability, and OTA update paths.
• Mentor and grow senior engineers across core platform, perception, controls, and SDK setting crisp technical direction, code quality bars, and review culture.
• Engage customers & partners as the senior technical face of the platform clarify requirements, guide integrations, and translate learnings into the roadmap.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level