Pre/Post Silicon Validation Framework/Tools/Infra Development Engineer, Staff

Job Title

Pre/Post Silicon Validation Framework/Tools/Infra Development Engineer, Staff

Role Summary

Senior engineer on the System Validation & Emulation (SVE) team responsible for architecting and developing embedded software frameworks, validation infrastructure, and platform software for pre-silicon and post-silicon SoC validation.

The role focuses on framework design, tool and infrastructure development, system-level debug, and cross-team collaboration to enable silicon bring-up and scalable validation workflows.

Experience Level

Senior / Staff level. Target experience: 6+ to 10 years in embedded software, system software, SoC validation, silicon enablement, platform software, or related domains.

Responsibilities

Deliver and maintain software frameworks and validation infrastructure to support SoC bring-up, validation, and debug across pre- and post-silicon environments.

• Architect, design, and implement scalable embedded software frameworks and platform abstraction layers.
• Develop reusable middleware and system services for multicore and heterogeneous compute environments.
• Build and maintain bring-up, validation, and debug infrastructure for bare-metal, RTOS, emulation, FPGA, and silicon targets.
• Root-cause complex system-level issues spanning hardware, firmware, OS, and validation software.
• Implement system-level synchronization, coherency, and performance optimization for multicore systems.
• Design and automate validation, regression, and release workflows; integrate with CI systems.
• Integrate static analysis, build systems, and release processes into development pipelines.
• Collaborate with architecture, design, verification, firmware, and validation teams to enable efficient silicon bring-up and feature validation.
• Drive improvements in software quality, automation, and validation methodologies.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience for immediate contribution in embedded framework and SoC validation work.

• 6+ years industry experience in embedded software, system software, SoC validation, or platform/framework development (staff level expectation: 6–10 years).
• Expertise in Embedded Software Architecture and Framework Design using C, C++, and Assembly.
• Low-level software experience: boot code, exception/interrupt handling, startup sequences, and C–Assembly interworking.
• Deep understanding of CPU and microarchitectural concepts (ARMv8/ARMv9, x86, PowerPC) and multicore/heterogeneous SoC behavior (SMP, AMP, cross-core interactions).
• Strong knowledge of cache coherency, memory ordering, synchronization primitives, inter-processor communication, and concurrency issues.
• Proven system-level debug skills with JTAG, trace, emulation, FPGA, and silicon debug tools.
• Solid understanding of OS/RTOS and Linux kernel internals: multithreading, scheduling, locking, MMU/virtual memory, and kernel synchronization.
• Experience with compiler toolchains and build systems (GCC/Clang, linker internals, Makefiles, linker/scatter scripts) and diagnosing compiler/linker issues.
• Proficiency in Python and Shell scripting for automation, tooling, and productivity improvements.

Nice-to-have (concise):

• Experience with pre-silicon emulation, FPGA prototyping, board/silicon bring-up, and post-silicon validation.
• Familiarity with hardware trace tools (e.g., Lauterbach Trace32), performance analysis, and CI/CD or containerized development environments.
• Experience with source control systems such as Git and Perforce and mentoring or technical leadership of engineering teams.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, or a related field. The posting also allows equivalent related work experience; specific past listings referenced Bachelor's +3 years, Master's +2 years, or PhD +1 year as possible combinations alongside industry experience expectations.

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.