Senior Firmware Engineer – 5G/6G Modem

Job Title

Senior Firmware Engineer – 5G/6G Modem

Role Summary

Design and implement timing-critical, real-time firmware for cellular modem platforms focused on 5G/6G and multi-RAT operation. Work on features from design through integration, debugging, and commercialization, collaborating with modem systems, PHY, RF and hardware teams.

Experience Level

Senior-level. Typically requires 3+ years of embedded systems or firmware development experience, with demonstrated ownership of complex features.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include developing, optimizing, and validating modem control and scheduling firmware under strict real-time constraints.

• Design and implement control flows, scheduling, RF control, and state machines for cellular modem firmware.
• Translate system and 3GPP requirements into robust firmware designs and implementations.
• Develop features for 5G NR, LTE, multi-RAT and emerging 6G technologies.
• Optimize latency-sensitive code for timing, memory, performance, and power constraints.
• Integrate firmware with PHY, RF, and hardware teams; participate in bring-up and commercialization.
• Debug and perform root-cause analysis of cross-layer issues involving firmware, hardware, RF, and system interactions.
• Participate in design discussions, code reviews, and drive assigned features through delivery.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience for successful performance in this role.

• Strong programming skills in C.
• Solid understanding of real-time embedded systems: interrupts, concurrency, synchronization, memory/cache behavior, low-level control logic.
• Proven debugging and problem-solving skills; experience investigating complex technical issues across software and hardware.
• Ability to translate system-level requirements into firmware design and implementation and to work independently.
• Effective collaboration and communication skills in multidisciplinary teams; strong verbal and written English.
• Commitment to delivering high-quality solutions in a fast-paced engineering environment.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience developing real-time firmware for DSP, MCU, or heterogeneous SoC architectures.
• Cellular modem firmware, modem-to-RF control, RF management, or timing-critical RF control loop experience.
• Scheduler, control-plane implementation, or system firmware experience.
• Experience interpreting 3GPP specifications and mapping them to firmware implementations.
• Hardware-proximal experience: registers, interrupts, DMA, timers, memory/cache, silicon bring-up.
• Familiarity with lab/debug equipment (protocol analyzers, oscilloscopes, probes) and AI-assisted development tools.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field. The posting allows equivalent practical experience in lieu of a degree; specific combinations cited include Bachelor's + experience, Master's + reduced experience, or PhD. (Degrees and equivalent-experience options summarized from the job's minimum/required qualifications.)

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.