Principal Engineer

Qualcomm • San Diego, CA

11d

About The Position

Role Overview
This role serves on the Automotive Platform Systems Team as a senior technical leader responsible for driving baseband systems work or hardware platforms across multidisciplinary teams. In this role, the individual will architect, design, review, and guide the development of advanced electronic systems, ensuring robust performance, reliability, and manufacturability across the full product lifecycle. The role functions as a key technical authority—mentoring engineers, leading system‑level investigations, conducting deep‑dive analyses, and resolving challenging design issues spanning electrical, mechanical, and systems domains.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 8+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.
• OR Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 7+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.
• OR PhD in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 6+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.

Nice To Haves

• 15+ years of experience in hardware or systems engineering, with a proven track record of delivering complex designs or system‑level solutions.
• Demonstrated technical leadership across multidisciplinary teams, including guiding feasibility studies, system architecture decisions, debugging, and advanced troubleshooting.
• Experience influencing cross‑functional teams and driving decision‑making in large, matrixed organizations.
• Executive‑level communication skills, with the ability to synthesize and present complex technical topics to diverse audiences.
• Deep expertise with Qualcomm hardware development flows, tools, and collaboration processes—or equivalent experience in advanced hardware product development environments.
• Ability to mentor and coach junior and mid‑level engineers, fostering growth in technical capability and design execution.
• Strong proficiency with engineering tools, including schematic capture and layout tools.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical leader driving the architecture, design, development, and validation of complex hardware systems spanning electrical, mechanical, and system‑level domains.
• Lead multidisciplinary engineering efforts, providing expert guidance on feasibility analyses, design reviews, material and component choices, compliance considerations, and system‑level trade-offs.
• Identify, diagnose, and resolve advanced design challenges, including power integrity, signal integrity, mechanical constraints, system interactions, and cross‑domain performance issues.
• Influence technical decision‑making by evaluating design risks, recommending mitigation paths, and ensuring alignment with product objectives and quality requirements.
• Collaborate extensively with cross‑functional partners (systems engineering, software, mechanical design, validation, manufacturing, suppliers, customer engineering, and program management) to ensure cohesive system integration and execution.
• Define, promote, and enforce engineering best practices, documentation standards, design methodologies, and review frameworks across teams.
• Mentor and develop engineers through technical guidance, coaching, and knowledge sharing to elevate organizational capability.
• Engage with project leadership, clearly communicating technical risks, status, recommendations, and strategic insights to influence program direction.
• Drive innovation by identifying opportunities for new methodologies, improved architectures, better processes, and forward-looking technology adoption.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree