CPU Core Validation Engineer (Staff/Senior Staff) - CPU Pipeline and uarch experts

Job Title

CPU Core Validation Engineer (Staff/Senior Staff)

Role Summary

Join the CPU Validation team to plan and execute functional validation and bring-up for CPU core pipeline and microarchitecture features. Work with CPU design, verification, SoC bring-up, and software teams to develop validation strategies across pre-silicon emulation, FPGA, and silicon platforms.

Experience Level

Senior level (Staff / Senior Staff). The posting targets experienced engineers, typically 7+ years of relevant silicon validation or hardware engineering experience.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities focus on test planning, validation methodology, and debugging during bring-up and silicon validation.

• Develop detailed test plans covering IP architecture and microarchitecture features.
• Create validation methodology and test content for emulators (pre-silicon), FPGAs, and silicon.
• Collaborate with CPU design, verification, SoC bring-up, and software teams for feature bring-up and end-to-end validation.
• Triage and debug silicon failures; reproduce failures on emulators/FPGAs when needed.
• Develop test contents and strategies to validate CPU behavior on silicon.
• Propose and help architect new debug features to improve future CPU bring-ups.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience to perform the role; preferred items follow.

Must-have:

• 7+ years experience in silicon validation and bring-up (CPU or related IP).
• Experience writing and implementing assembly and embedded firmware in C/C++.
• Familiarity with software toolchains: assemblers, C compilers, Makefiles, and source control tools.
• Proven ability to triage and debug failures on silicon and reproduce issues on emulators/FPGAs.
• Experience developing validation test plans and methodologies for block and subsystem verification.

Preferred:

• Deep understanding of microprocessor concepts: cache coherence, memory ordering/consistency, prefetching, branch prediction, renaming, speculative execution, and address translation/MMU.
• Experience with Random Instruction Sequencing (RIS) and block-to-chip level testing methods.
• Strong test-plan and assembly-code development experience.
• Ability to develop and deliver work independently on a block/unit of the design.

Education Requirements

The posting specifies a technical degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or a related field. It lists alternative degree+experience combinations: Bachelor's degree (CS/EE/Engineering or related) with experience (examples in the posting include Bachelor's +4 years and a later BA/BS with 7–16 years), Master's degree with reduced experience (example: Master's +3 years), or PhD with reduced experience (example: PhD +2 years). Equivalent relevant work experience is referenced in combination with degree levels.

About the Company

Company: Qualcomm

Headquarters: San Diego, California, United States

Qualcomm is a global leader in semiconductor and telecommunications equipment, specializing in mobile technologies and innovations. Known for its Adreno GPUs, the company provides solutions enabling advancements in mobile gaming, AI, VR/AR, and autonomous driving. Qualcomm's cutting-edge technology and commitment to high-performance, power-efficient designs drive the evolution of mobile graphics and connectivity worldwide.