SoC Systems & Infrastructure Engineer (Design • Validation • Debug • FPGA • Emulation • Software)

Qualcomm•San Diego, CA

2d•$98,500 - $147,700•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking highly motivated engineers to join Qualcomm's SoC Design, Validation, Debug, Infrastructure, FPGA, and Emulation organizations. In this role, you will work on industry-leading SoCs and development platforms spanning design, validation, system debug, silicon characterization, CAD software, FPGA prototyping, and emulation. You will collaborate closely with architects, RTL designers, verification engineers, software developers, and validation teams to develop innovative solutions that improve product quality, accelerate system bring-up, and enable next-generation computing platforms.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
Experience in one or more of the following areas: ASIC / SoC Design, Hardware or System Debug, Validation Engineering, FPGA Development, Emulation Platforms, CAD / EDA / Software Development
Strong analytical, debugging, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, cross-functional environment.
Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field.

Nice To Haves

Master's or PhD in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
Experience with complex SoC architectures including CPUs, DSPs, GPUs, DDR, NoCs, peripherals, and interconnects.
Experience with Linux and embedded software development.
Familiarity with modern AI-assisted engineering workflows and automation technologies.
SoC/System Validation Expertise – End-to-end pre-silicon and post-silicon validation, bring-up, system integration, and silicon debug.
Hardware-Software Co-Debug – Strong debugging across SoC architecture, embedded software, firmware, drivers, and hardware interfaces.
Validation Content & Framework Development – Design scalable test content, automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, analysis, and debug infrastructure.
Low-Level Programming – Proficiency in C/C++, Python, Assembly, Linux, device drivers, and bare-metal software development.
Architecture & Domain Knowledge – Deep understanding of CPU, DDR, NoC/interconnects, memory hierarchy, clock/power management, low-power modes, and performance architecture.
Performance, Power & Concurrency Analysis – System-level validation of bandwidth, latency, QoS, throughput, scalability, and power-performance tradeoffs.
Pre-Silicon Platforms – Experience with simulation, emulation (RUMI/Veloce/FPGA), RTL understanding, and validation readiness.
AI-Driven Validation – Applying AI/ML to improve validation productivity.
Lab & Debug Tools – Hands-on experience with JTAG, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, kernel debuggers, and silicon debug methodologies.
Technical Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration – Work effectively across architecture, design, firmware, software, and validation teams to drive silicon quality.
Pre-silicon and post-silicon bring-up
Failure analysis and root-cause debugging
Platform-level debug
Lab equipment usage
JTAG and trace-based debugging
PVT and marginality analysis
AI-assisted debug automation
Power characterization
Thermal analysis
Vmin/Fmax characterization
CPU/GPU/DDR/NoC analysis
Performance optimization
Low-power design methodologies
MBIST
ATPG
Structural testing
Yield analysis
Scan-based debug
Silicon characterization
Xilinx and Intel FPGA platforms
FPGA firmware development
Embedded Linux
PCIe, AXI, Ethernet, and I2C protocols
High-speed digital design
Clock domain crossing and timing closure
FPGA prototyping
Palladium and Veloce platforms
Emulation build generation
Platform bring-up
System-level debug methodologies
Timing closure and deployment flows
CAD tool development
Algorithms and data structures
Emulation infrastructure
Synthesis optimization
Partitioning
Clock optimization
Compute and storage optimization

Responsibilities

Develop and enhance solutions supporting SoC design, validation, debug, FPGA prototyping, and emulation environments.
Design, implement, validate, and debug hardware and software components used in advanced SoC development platforms.
Perform pre-silicon and post-silicon bring-up, failure analysis, root-cause investigation, and performance characterization.
Develop automation, infrastructure, and tooling using modern programming languages and scripting environments.
Support debugging of low-level hardware and software issues across complex SoC platforms.
Analyze system performance, power, functionality, reliability, and timing across multiple subsystems.
Collaborate with global engineering teams, technology partners, and tool vendors to improve methodologies, workflows, and product quality.
Leverage automation and AI technologies to improve engineering productivity and debug efficiency.