Principal Software Engineer, AI Software Automotive Lead

Qualcomm•San Diego, CA

3d•$200,800 - $301,200

About The Position

As a leading technology innovator, Qualcomm pushes the boundaries of what's possible to enable next-generation intelligent automotive experiences. As a Principal Engineer within Qualcomm AI Software, you will drive the design, development, and deployment of advanced AI software technologies powering automotive platforms across digital cockpit, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), ADAS, autonomous driving, computer vision, voice AI, and generative AI applications. In this position, you will serve as a technical leader and primary interface between the AI Software organization and the Automotive Business Unit. You will work closely with automotive customers, internal engineering organizations, and product teams to define requirements, drive architectural decisions, and enable successful deployment of Qualcomm AI technologies into production automotive programs. You will combine deep technical expertise with strong program leadership skills. Your responsibilities will include representing Qualcomm in customer engagements, translating automotive requirements into AI software roadmap priorities, coordinating feature delivery across multiple engineering teams, and leading the development of robust AI solutions that meet automotive performance, reliability, safety, and quality requirements. You will have the opportunity to influence the direction of Qualcomm's AI software stack, lead strategically important initiatives, mentor senior engineers, and drive the adoption of next-generation AI technologies across the automotive ecosystem.

Requirements

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

Nice To Haves

15+ years of industry experience in software engineering, embedded systems, AI/ML software, or automotive software development.
Expert-level proficiency in C/C++ software development.
Strong software architecture and design skills, including distributed systems, embedded software, performance optimization, debugging, testing, and software lifecycle management.
Demonstrated experience leading large technical initiatives spanning multiple teams and organizations.
Experience interfacing directly with customers and translating customer requirements into engineering deliverables.
Strong understanding of embedded and systems software development environments.
Excellent communication, presentation, and technical leadership skills.
Ability to influence technical direction and build consensus across multiple organizations.
Ability to make technical and business decisions in ambiguous environments with incomplete information.
Experience in automotive software platforms, including QNX, Android Automotive, Linux, or AUTOSAR-based environments.
Experience delivering software for automotive production programs with OEMs or Tier-1 suppliers.
Familiarity with automotive safety and quality standards, including: ISO 26262, ASPICE, Automotive cybersecurity standards (ISO/SAE 21434), Functional safety development processes.
Experience with AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, ONNX, JAX, or equivalent.
Experience with deployment and optimization of: CNNs, Transformers, Vision-language models, Large language models (LLMs), Multimodal models.
Experience with edge AI inference acceleration and heterogeneous compute architectures, including CPUs, GPUs, NPUs, DSPs, and AI accelerators.
Experience with Qualcomm AI technologies, including QAIRT, QNN, SNPE, Genie, and related AI software components.
Experience debugging complex issues spanning application software, middleware, operating systems, drivers, compilers, and hardware platforms.
Experience with model optimization techniques, including quantization, compression, pruning, compilation, and runtime optimization.
Experience leading globally distributed engineering teams and cross-functional programs.
Experience with Agile software development methodologies and Git-based source control management.
Software development experience in Python.
AI-native and agentic software development proficiency.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary AI Software technical lead interfacing with the Automotive Business Unit, automotive OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and strategic customers.
Represent Qualcomm in customer discussions, technical deep dives, architecture reviews, and issue resolution efforts related to AI software technologies and automotive deployments.
Lead or coordinate the design, development, integration, and delivery of AI software features required for Qualcomm Automotive platforms and products.
Translate customer requirements and market needs into technical requirements, architecture proposals, feature roadmaps, and engineering execution plans.
Contribute to enhancements across the Qualcomm AI Stack, including model preparation, optimization, runtime, inference, tooling, and developer workflows to support automotive use cases.
Identify and resolve limitations within the AI software stack and collaborate across teams to deliver scalable, production-ready solutions.
Lead cross-functional efforts involving AI Software, Automotive Engineering, Program Management, Product Management, Systems Engineering, and Platform Software teams.
Provide technical leadership for deployment of advanced AI workloads on Automotive platform environments including: Computer vision, Perception systems, Driver monitoring, Voice assistants, Large language models (LLMs), Multimodal AI applications, Generative AI services.
Drive architectural decisions affecting multiple products, software releases, and automotive customer programs.
Participate in strategic planning and long-term roadmap development for AI software technologies within Qualcomm Automotive solutions.
Ensure solutions satisfy automotive requirements related to performance, reliability, maintainability, security, and safety.
Mentor engineers across the organization and provide technical guidance for complex architecture, optimization, debugging, and customer deployment challenges.
Stay current with advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, automotive systems, and industry standards to continuously improve Qualcomm's AI software offerings.