#Windows Audio Software Engineer (Voice AI) — Engineer, Senior

Qualcomm•San Diego, CA

2d•$111,300 - $166,900

About The Position

Qualcomm is a world-leading provider of mobile, computing, XR, automotive, and IoT SoCs and software technologies. Our Snapdragon platforms deliver highly integrated CPU/DSP/NPU capabilities that enable premium on-device experiences with industry-leading power efficiency. As a member of Qualcomm’s Windows Audio Software team, you will design and build next-generation on-device Voice AI capabilities on Windows-on-Snapdragon platforms—spanning low-power “always-on” sensing through interactive speech experiences. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams (hardware, DSP, systems, ML, and product) and work with global stakeholders across regions and sites to deliver robust, production-ready solutions.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 1+ year of Software Engineering or related work experience.
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field.
2+ years of academic or work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science or related field.
3+ years of industry experience in software engineering, with a focus in one or more of the following areas: Windows system software, device drivers, multimedia/audio, platform software, or performance/power-sensitive products.
Proficiency in systems programming (C/C++ preferred) and ability to deliver production-quality code in complex codebases.
Strong Windows development skills using Visual Studio, source control (Git-based workflows), and disciplined debugging practices.
Solid understanding of Windows OS fundamentals relevant to system-level development: processes/threads, synchronization primitives, memory, I/O, and performance diagnostics.
Experience developing or integrating Windows drivers using KMDF and/or UMDF, including build, deployment, and debugging fundamentals.
Hands-on experience with multi-threaded programming, concurrency control, and performance/latency tuning.
Proven ability to work cross-functionally and communicate effectively with distributed teams across regions/time zones.
Windows audio ecosystem experience (any of the following): audio drivers, audio endpoints, WASAPI, audio effects/APOs, audio policy, power-aware audio scenarios, or end-to-end audio pipeline integration.
Demonstrated experience using AI-assisted development tools to improve productivity across the software lifecycle (requirements/architecture, implementation, debugging, testing, and documentation), with the ability to iterate on prompts and validate outputs against real code and requirements.
Familiarity with mainstream AI coding assistants (e.g., GitHub Copilot / Microsoft Copilot) applied to practical engineering tasks such as code comprehension, change drafting, test scaffolding ideas, and documentation—while maintaining strong review and correctness discipline.
Ability to create and share repeatable prompt patterns/templates for common engineering workflows and continuously refine prompts to increase specificity and accuracy.
Experience with low-power / always-on audio and power-state transitions (e.g., Modern Standby constraints and wake/trigger flows).
Familiarity with on-device voice activation building blocks and staged verification concepts (e.g., multi-stage keyword/wake approaches).
Experience optimizing workloads across heterogeneous compute (CPU + DSP + NPU) and understanding tradeoffs across latency vs. power vs. quality.
Exposure to Voice AI pipelines: ASR/TTS, speech translation, transcription, streaming/buffering strategies, and real-time constraints.

Responsibilities

Own feature development end-to-end for Voice AI capabilities on Windows, including wake-on-voice, on-device ASR, translation, transcription, and TTS.
Gather and refine technical requirements with internal and external partners; translate product goals into clear engineering requirements, architecture, and milestones.
Co-design and implement Windows audio + driver stack solutions that leverage Qualcomm SoC CPU/DSP/NPU capabilities while meeting strict latency and power targets for Voice AI experiences.
Build or extend components across user-mode and kernel-mode boundaries (UMDF/KMDF), integrating with Windows audio frameworks and platform services as needed for Voice AI pipelines.
Drive low-power audio architecture for “always-on” use cases, including concurrency and power-mode transitions across multiple audio features.
Optimize and validate performance using Windows diagnostics and systematically debug complex multi-threaded and multi-processor issues across HW/SW boundaries.
Communicate development status, risks, and mitigations to technical leads and stakeholders.
Participate in roadmap planning and execution; contribute to process improvements that increase quality, scalability, and maintainability.