Framework Developer Engineer

Job Title

Framework Developer Engineer

Role Summary

Join Qualcomm's SoC Validation Team (SVE) within the central SoC digital hardware organization to develop bare-metal validation frameworks used by global teams to validate Snapdragon SoCs. The role focuses on building and extending infrastructure for post-silicon and emulation validation and enabling production screening test flows.

Experience Level

Mid-level - typically requires 5+ years of hands-on silicon validation and embedded software development on modern CPU and SoC architectures.

Responsibilities

Deliver and maintain framework software and test flows to support hardware validation across SoC projects.

• Design, develop, and debug system/IP validation frameworks for bare-metal and lightweight RTOS environments.
• Support validation of new Snapdragon SoC features and ensure infrastructure meets hardware validation goals.
• Interface with IP validation, design, verification, and software teams to debug complex HW/SW issues on emulation and post-silicon platforms.
• Enable new test flows for production screening and ATE/MBIST testing.
• Use lab equipment and debug tools to validate designs and reproduce issues.

Requirements

Core technical skills and practical experience required and preferred for the role.

Must-have

• 5+ years of hands-on silicon validation and embedded software development on modern CPU/SoC architectures.
• Proficiency in C/C++ for embedded development; familiarity with assembly language and hardware description languages (VHDL/Verilog).
• Working knowledge of CPU architectures (ARMv8/ARMv9/x86/RISC‑V), interrupt handling, cache/IO coherency, and SMP/heterogeneous cores.
• Understanding of memory models, memory barriers, and pipelined memory systems.
• Experience with software build toolchains (compilers, Makefiles, linkers, scatter files) and resolving linker issues.
• Hands-on experience with JTAG and hardware debug tools (e.g., Lauterbach Trace32), and use of lab equipment such as logic analyzers and oscilloscopes.
• Practical debug and root-cause analysis of low-level HW/SW issues and good written and verbal communication skills.

Nice-to-have

• Bootloader design and debug experience.
• Familiarity with OS/RTOS/Linux kernel internals, multithreading, scheduling, locking, virtual memory and MMU.
• Experience with compilers/linkers like GCC, Clang, RVDS, LLVM and build automation tools (e.g., Jenkins).
• Experience bringing up HW-SW solutions on FPGA/emulation platforms and supporting fresh SoC designs.
• Regression testing methodology and scripting experience (Python/Perl) to automate test suites.

Education Requirements

Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Science, Engineering, or a related field. Preferred: Master’s in Computer or Electrical Engineering. The posting also lists PhD as an accepted qualification for certain minimum-qualification pathways; equivalent practical experience combined with the specified years of ASIC/validation work may satisfy requirements per the listed alternatives.

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.