Multimedia Architect

Qualcomm•San Diego, CA

About The Position

We are looking for an experienced Multimedia Systems Architect who is passionate about building efficient, scalable, and intelligent multimedia pipelines. In this role, you will dive deep into system architecture—analyzing end‑to‑end multimedia flows, identifying hardware and software optimization opportunities, and shaping designs that deliver the best latency, memory footprint, and power efficiency for real‑world use cases. If you enjoy solving complex cross‑layer problems, collaborating across hardware, software, and algorithm teams, and driving architectural decisions that impact multiple products, this role is an excellent fit. What You’ll Work On You will design and develop technologies related to multimedia processing—spanning speech, audio, imaging, computer vision, display, sensing, biometrics, and AR/VR. Your work will focus on: Analyzing customer and product use cases and defining system‑level requirements Exploring multimedia pipelines to uncover performance bottlenecks Proposing architectural, algorithmic, and hardware optimizations Driving decisions on resource distribution to balance performance, power, and memory Modeling, simulating, and evaluating system behavior to guide cross‑team implementation Your contributions will directly influence hardware roadmaps, system designs, and product experience across multiple generations.

Requirements

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

Nice To Haves

Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
10+ years of experience in Systems Engineering or related technical fields
2+ years of experience in multimedia domains such as speech, audio, imaging, computer vision, display, sensing, biometrics, or AR/VR

Responsibilities

Act as the subject‑matter expert for large‑scale systems‑level multimedia design
Identify design patterns, debug complexities across software and hardware, and guide teams toward robust solutions
Drive design reviews and ensure system performance aligns with product constraints and customer needs
Define technical vision and align cross‑functional teams around requirements and architectural direction
Own test strategies for system performance, collaborating with teams on measurement, validation, and analytics
Evaluate new algorithms and determine optimal hardware/software partitioning across the SOC
Guide ML‑related system integration: data engineering, model evaluation, topology selection
Participate in high‑level planning, roadmap discussions, and technology strategy
Work independently while providing technical mentorship to other engineers
Lead decisions that influence product success, development costs, and schedules
Engage with diverse audiences—from engineering teams to senior leadership—through clear and compelling communication
Shape long‑term engineering practices, methodologies, and architectural frameworks
Solve abstract, cross‑functional problems in ambiguous environments and drive them to resolution
Contribute to organizational strategy, innovation, and technical IP (including patents)