Senior Staff Engineer

Qualcomm • San Diego, CA

1d • $162,600 - $244,000

About The Position

Qualcomm is a company of inventors that unlocked 5G, ushering in an era of rapid advancements in connectivity and new possibilities that will transform industries, create jobs, and enrich lives. But this is only the beginning. It takes inventive minds with diverse skills, backgrounds, and perspectives to turn 5G’s potential into world-changing technologies and products. This is the Invention Age, and this is where you come in.
For more than a decade, Qualcomm has pioneered connected car technologies and continues to play a central role in the evolution of automotive infotainment, autonomous driving, and related technologies, including 4G/5G, ADAS, and deep learning. Qualcomm works closely with standards bodies, industry consortiums, automakers, and operators to advance Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) standards and architectures. As a key member of the Towards 5G initiative, Qualcomm is also helping drive the advancement of Cellular V2X (CV2X) capabilities on the path to 5G. By integrating connectivity into the latest infotainment, cluster, and telematics systems, Qualcomm is making travel safer, more efficient, and more enjoyable.
We are looking for talented and motivated software engineers who are passionate about making a meaningful impact on the technologies and automotive products that will shape the future. Join our growing, multi-site development team and contribute to innovations that redefine mobility.
About the role You'll be the senior technical authority for the embedded Linux platform software powering automotive telematics systems — owning architecture and execution across boot, security, memory, and virtualization, from silicon bring-up through production launch with global automakers.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 5+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• 3+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.

Nice To Haves

• Deep expertise in embedded Linux systems software, including kernel development, bootloaders, Yocto-based build systems, and board bring-up
• Proven track record of optimizing boot time and memory footprint on resource-constrained embedded platforms
• Strong knowledge of embedded security and automotive cybersecurity standards
• Experience delivering software to automotive OEMs within formal development, quality, and process frameworks
• Ability to provide technical leadership across teams without direct authority and successfully drive cross-organizational commitments
• Solid knowledge of system software and platform-level debugging, including pre-silicon and SoC bring-up
• Experience with industry-standard software development tools, including debuggers, code revision systems (Git, Perforce), IDEs, and build tools
• Experience with Linux kernel device driver development
• Experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS)
• Excellent programming skills in C, C++, Assembly, and scripting languages
• Experience working with AI-based software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices
• Experience working in large organizations
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent planning, time management, decision-making, presentation, and organizational skills
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Strong interpersonal and teamwork skills
• Bachelor’s degree in Electronics, Communications, or Computer Science Engineering; Master’s degree preferred
• 13+ years of software engineering experience or related industry experience, with strong C/C++ programming expertise.

Responsibilities

• Own the platform software stack end to end across multiple telematics chipset generations, from initial bring-up through commercialization and long-term sustaining support
• Architect boot and recovery solutions, including fail-safe and dual-image recovery paths, over-the-air update flows, and NAND/eMMC storage support
• Contribute to platform security work — mandatory access control, verified boot, disk integrity verification, and full-disk encryption — and drive automotive cybersecurity threat analysis and risk assessment for key features
• Set and defend boot-time and memory footprint targets, leading cross-team optimization efforts against firm customer commitments
• Help architect fusion configurations integrating third-party application processors with cellular modems over PCIe, USB, and Ethernet
• Plan kernel and Yocto upgrade roadmaps and release trains, balancing launch commitments against ongoing feature demand
• Ensure automotive software process compliance for all new platform feature development
• Help translate customer requirements into platform features and build configurations
• Mentor engineers across boot, security, memory, and virtualization domains, and set technical direction ahead of market demand
• In this role, you will help develop next-generation Automotive Telematics products.
• Working with Tier 1 suppliers, OEMs, and industry partners, you will apply your system software expertise, coding skills, and problem-solving abilities to deliver innovative solutions.
• You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams across multiple locations to design, develop, and drive system solutions through commercialization.

Benefits

• competitive annual discretionary bonus program
• opportunity for annual RSU grants
• highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play

What This Job Offers

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