Sr-Staff Performance Engineer

Qualcomm•Austin, TX

2d•$191,800 - $287,800

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced Senior Performance Engineer to drive architectural analysis, performance modeling, and system optimization for next-generation computing platforms. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in processor and system architecture, performance analysis methodologies, and low-level software, including device drivers. This role requires close collaboration with hardware architects, software engineers, silicon teams, and product stakeholders to identify bottlenecks, optimize system performance, and influence future architectural direction.

Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
10+ years of industry experience in performance engineering, computer architecture, system architecture, or a related field.
Strong understanding of: Processor microarchitecture, Computer system architecture, Memory hierarchies and cache architectures, Interconnects and SoC design, Performance analysis and optimization techniques
Experience with performance modeling, simulation, or architectural analysis tools.
Proficiency in C/C++ and scripting languages such as Python.
Experience developing, debugging, or optimizing Linux or Windows device drivers.
Strong understanding of operating system internals and hardware-software interactions.
Experience using profiling and performance analysis tools.
Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience with DSP, AI/ML accelerators, GPU, or NPU architectures.
Familiarity with virtualization technologies, IOMMU, PCIe, SR-IOV, or SIOV.
Knowledge of power-performance tradeoff analysis and performance-per-watt optimization.
Experience with silicon bring-up and post-silicon performance characterization.
Understanding of cache coherence protocols and memory consistency models.
Experience with large-scale performance benchmarking and workload characterization.
Ability to translate complex technical data into actionable architectural recommendations.
Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work across hardware and software disciplines.
Passion for solving challenging performance problems and shaping future computing architectures.
A data-driven approach to engineering decisions and performance optimization.

Responsibilities

Analyze and optimize performance of complex SoCs, processors, and heterogeneous computing systems.
Develop performance models, benchmarks, and simulation environments to evaluate architectural tradeoffs.
Investigate system-level bottlenecks across CPUs, DSPs, NPUs, memory subsystems, interconnects, and I/O fabrics.
Collaborate with hardware and software teams to define performance requirements and drive performance closure.
Analyze workload behavior and identify opportunities for improvements in performance, power efficiency, and scalability.
Work with operating systems, firmware, and device drivers to understand hardware-software interactions and performance impacts.
Develop profiling, tracing, and instrumentation methodologies to characterize system behavior.
Interpret silicon measurements and correlate results with simulation and modeling data.
Present findings and recommendations to engineering leadership and cross-functional teams.
Contribute to architecture reviews and influence future processor and system designs.