Software Engineer - Qualcomm Advanced Robotics Team - Multiple levels

Qualcomm•San Diego, CA

45d

About The Position

Qualcomm Advanced Robotics Team is building the AI first stack and platform for the next generation general purpose robots - from AMRs and cobots to emerging humanoids by pairing heterogeneous compute (CPU/GPU/DSP/NPU) with a full Robotics SDK and developer tooling for manipulation, perception, navigation, and fleet workflows. We are leveraging our success in automated driving product portfolio, advanced AI end to end development and tools, and safety architecture to accelerate the growth in this emerging market. As Software Engineer, you will be the senior technical developer for Qualcomm's robotics software platform-defining the endâtoâend architecture, raising the engineering bar across core middleware and services (ROSâ¯2/DDS), and leading crossâfunctional teams to deliver productionâgrade SDKs and reference solutions that customers can take to market. You'll combine deep systems expertise with handsâon leadership across perception/SLAM, planning & control, realâtime Linux/MCU, and onâdevice AI shipping robust software on Qualcomm robotics SoCs.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 5+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
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

5+ years in software engineering, with 4+ years building robotics platforms, Ubuntu, ROS2 or complex realâtime distributed systems; proven record shipping SDKs or core runtimes.
Expert in C++ (modern) and Python with production experience in ROSâ¯2 and DDS (QoS, discovery, message design, and tracing).
Depth in : Physical AI embedded and virtual platforms, SLAM/visualâinertial odometry, dense/stereo depth, semantic mapping, planning & controls, or manipulation-with demonstrable systemâlevel integration on embedded platforms.
Strong background in Linux for robotics, realâtime considerations, and MCU/RTOS interactions (time sync, safety islands, bootloaders, field firmware management).
Performance engineering on heterogeneous SoCs (CPU/GPU/NPU/DSP) and camera/ISP stacks; handsâon profiling and optimization.
BS/MS in CS, EE, Robotics, or related field (PhD a plus).
Track record leading large crossâfunctional efforts (architecture docs, design reviews, deârisking, postmortems) that landed in customer products.
Experience delivering developerâfacing SDKs and documentation; familiarity with Qualcomm robotics stacks and ROSâ¯2 package ecosystems.
Demonstrated results in onâdevice AI for perception or policy (model optimization, quantization, or pipeline fusion) on edge devices.
Contributions to ROS/ROSâ¯2 or relevant openâsource robotics projects; publications/patents in SLAM, perception, manipulation, or realâtime systems.

Responsibilities

Develop the software architecture for the Qualcomm Robotics platform interfaces, runtime, QoS, and safety envelopes across Linux + MCU subsystems; drive DDS/ROSâ¯2 patterns for reliable, realâtime data flow on heterogeneous compute, and system mapping and optimization to Qualcomm Robotics platform.
Develop the platform roadmap and technical design reviews across perception (VIO/VSLAM, DFS), mapping, semantic scene understanding, navigation, manipulation, and SDK components; ensure high performance and low power on our SoCs.
Drive realâworld validation using simâinâtheâloop and HIL; establish metrics for robustness, determinism, and regression across camera/IMU/LiDAR stacks and wholeârobot scenarios.
Optimize for heterogeneous compute (CPU/GPU/DSP/NPU) and camera pipeline/ISP; guide teams on concurrency, memory/power budgets, and accelerator utilization for onâdevice AI.
Champion safety & reliability practices and interfaces compatible with relevant standards (e.g., ISOâ¯26262/IECâ¯61508 alignment where applicable) and design for field diagnostics, observability, and OTA update paths.
Mentor and grow senior engineers across core platform, perception, controls, and SDK setting crisp technical direction, code quality bars, and review culture.
Engage customers & partners as the senior technical face of the platform clarify requirements, guide integrations, and translate learnings into the roadmap.
Set the technical bar for platform correctness, determinism, and developer experience.
Coach senior ICs and tech leads, building a strong review culture and CI/CD discipline for robotics.
Partner with product and silicon teams to align software roadmaps with SoC capabilities and customer needs.
Leverages advanced Software knowledge and experience to design, develop, create, modify, and validate critical embedded and cloud edge software, applications, and/or specialized utility programs.
Analyzes user needs, software requirements, and time and cost constraints to design and customize sophisticated software for optimal operational efficiency.
Designs and implements software sub-systems for complex, large-scale products and systems.
Leads design, coding, and testing efforts to ensure that projects are completed to specifications and schedules.
Performs highly complex code reviews and regression tests as well as triages and fixes issues to ensure the quality of code.
Collaborates with individuals outside the software function (e.g., Hardware, Systems, and Test engineers) to increase leverage and design solutions that work with other components of a specific project.
Writes detailed technical documentation for highly complex Software projects; reviews technical documentation for junior engineers.