Near-Memory Compute System Validation Engineer

Job Title

Near-Memory Compute System Validation Engineer

Role Summary

Member of Qualcomm's System Validation & Emulation (SVE) team responsible for system-level silicon validation across pre- and post-silicon phases. The role focuses on developing and scaling bare-metal validation content, automation, and debug methods for memory- and compute-intensive SoC subsystems.

Work spans cross-functional collaboration with architecture, design, firmware, software, emulation/FPGA and silicon teams to enable silicon bring-up, qualification, and productization.

Experience Level

Mid-level. Typical experience expectation: multi-year hands-on experience in memory or silicon validation and platform bring-up (see Education Requirements for degree/experience combinations).

Responsibilities

Core responsibilities include developing workloads, debugging complex system issues, and enabling silicon readiness.

• Develop AI, inference, and data-intensive bare-metal workloads to stress memory and compute subsystems.
• Perform root-cause analysis across SoC architecture, firmware, drivers, interconnects, memory systems, clocks, power domains, and low-power features.
• Support silicon bring-up, qualification, and productization through technical analysis and cross-functional coordination.
• Build and scale system-level test content and automation frameworks for repeatable validation.
• Use lab instrumentation, JTAG, kernel debuggers, and other tools to reproduce and diagnose hardware/software issues.

Requirements

Must-have skills and experience are listed first; preferred skills are noted separately.

Must-have

• 3+ years of hands-on experience in memory validation, silicon validation, or platform bring-up (see Education Requirements for degree/experience variants).
• Strong debugging and analytical problem-solving skills across HW/SW boundaries.
• Proficiency in C/C++, Python, and scripting for low-level software development and test automation.
• Solid understanding of SoC architecture, embedded systems, operating systems, memory hierarchy, caches, coherency, and concurrency.
• Experience with lab instrumentation, JTAG, kernel debuggers, and validation tools.
• Experience performing root-cause analysis and working with cross-functional teams (architecture, firmware, drivers, emulation, FPGA, silicon).

Nice-to-have

• Experience with Near-Memory Compute (NMC), Processing-in-Memory (PIM), or High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM).
• Experience with LPDDR/DDR memory systems, memory controllers, or AI accelerators.
• Familiarity with AI GEMM/GEMV operations, DMA operations, multi-threading, or AI/ML-assisted validation methods.
• Experience with embedded firmware, device drivers, emulation, and post-silicon validation.

Education Requirements

Degree and experience combinations from the posting: Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Science, Engineering, or related technical fields. The posting specifies degree + experience alternatives (example: Bachelor's + 4+ years, Master's + 3+ years, PhD + 2+ years of relevant ASIC design/verification/validation/integration or related experience). Equivalent practical experience is accepted per those degree/experience combinations.

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.