Firmware Development Engineer, Sr. Staff
QualcommJob Title
Firmware Development Engineer, Sr. Staff
Role Summary
Responsible for designing, implementing and verifying embedded firmware that manages CPU power and performance for Qualcomm SoCs. Works across pre-silicon and post-silicon environments and collaborates with hardware, platform, and third-party teams on boot, power management, RAS, debug, security and runtime services.
Experience Level
Senior-level. Typical experience expectation is 5+ years in embedded firmware or software engineering; specific minimums depend on degree (see Education Requirements).
Responsibilities
Key responsibilities include:
- Drive firmware design, implementation, and verification in pre-silicon (simulator/FPGA) and post-silicon environments.
- Define and implement CPU power management solutions for Qualcomm CPUs.
- Develop device drivers and firmware components for RTOS or OS kernel environments.
- Define interprocessor communication interfaces between embedded controllers and platform CPUs.
- Implement and maintain boot, RAS, debug, security, and runtime services for management controller firmware.
- Engage with open-source communities to contribute processor, driver, and firmware support.
- Collaborate with hardware teams and third parties during platform bring-up, debug, and verification.
- Assist in identifying skill requirements and support hiring and mentoring activities.
Requirements
Must-have technical skills and practical experience:
- Proficient in C and assembly programming; strong low-level debugging skills.
- Driver development experience in RTOS or OS kernel environments.
- Experience with embedded OSes such as Zephyr, eCos, uC/OS, or FreeRTOS.
- Experience with pre-silicon environments including simulators and FPGA emulation.
- Experience defining or implementing interprocessor communication interfaces.
- Familiarity with ARMv8 architecture.
- Practical programming experience (typically 3+ years) with languages such as C, C++, Java, or Python.
Nice-to-have:
- Direct development experience on ARMv8 platforms.
- Specific experience with CPU power management or SoC power architectures.
- Open-source contribution experience and upstreaming support.
- Demonstrated technical leadership and cross-team influence.
Education Requirements
Degrees mentioned: Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Engineering, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or related fields. Minimum qualification mappings: Bachelor's +6 years, Master's +5 years, or PhD +4 years of relevant software/engineering experience. The posting also allows equivalent professional experience in lieu of a degree; an earlier preferred note references BS/BEng with ~5 years embedded firmware experience.
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.
