Firmware Engineer, Staff

Job Title

Firmware Engineer, Staff

Role Summary

Join Qualcomm's Central R&D Software team to lead firmware development for UCIe chiplet IP and chiplet products. The role covers firmware architecture and implementation from RTL/digital design and EDA tool integration through post-silicon bring-up, validation, and optimization.

This position works closely with hardware, digital verification, systems, software, program management, vendors, and customers to deliver robust firmware and support chip bring-up and validation activities.

Experience Level

Senior — this role targets experienced engineers. Typical candidates have 6+ years of embedded systems or firmware engineering experience; minimum qualifications vary by degree (see Education Requirements).

Responsibilities

Accountable for the full firmware lifecycle for UCIe chiplets and related integration.

• Gather requirements and translate high-level designs into device interfaces and system-level firmware architecture.
• Collaborate with ASIC/digital design, verification, systems and software teams to define bring-up and validation requirements and meet performance goals.
• Implement efficient C/C++ firmware and software organization for pre-silicon and post-silicon phases.
• Develop test and debug infrastructure to guide hardware design decisions and enable regression testing.
• Drive root-cause analysis across software, silicon, and hardware; document and close issues.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams and external vendors to meet release quality and program timelines.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote process improvements and code reuse across the organization.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience for immediate contribution.

• Proficient in C/C++ and Python.
• 6+ years of experience with embedded systems (ARM, RISC-V, MIPS, etc.) and strong low-level programming experience (bare metal, BIOS/UEFI, kernel, RTOS, device drivers).
• Systems mindset with experience controlling analog, digital, and mixed-signal circuits from firmware.
• Familiarity with EDA tools and digital verification methodologies; experience with HDLs such as Verilog/SystemVerilog.
• Experience with SerDes, Ethernet, PCIe, D2D/UCIe or similar high-speed communication systems.
• Hands-on lab experience validating CPU/SoC/FPGA/MCU/DSP components and developing tests and debug tools.
• Bring-up and diagnostics experience with high-speed signals and common lab tools (oscilloscope, JTAG debuggers, I2C/SPI tools).
• Knowledge of peripherals and protocols (Ethernet, DDR, I2C, SPI/QSPI, MIPI, PCIe, USB, NVMe, CAN, LVDS, etc.).
• Experience creating error monitoring and board/interface configuration APIs; strong organizational and communication skills.

Nice-to-have

• Embedded Linux development, Buildroot, Yocto, or RTOSes (Zephyr, FreeRTOS).
• FPGA experience (Xilinx, Zed, MicroZed) and familiarity with hardware debugging (Power, SI, EMC).
• Experience with Jira, Agile/Scrum, Confluence and participation in open-source projects.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or related technical field. Minimum-qualification combinations listed: Bachelor's +4 years, Master's +3 years, or PhD +2 years of relevant software/firmware engineering 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.