Sr. Staff/Principal Engineer - Low Power Chip Architect / System Engineer

Job Title

Sr. Staff/Principal Engineer - Low Power Chip Architect / System Engineer

Role Summary

Senior technical role leading architecture, transistor-level design, and system integration of ultra-low-power mixed-signal ASICs for Robotics and Industrial IoT (IIoT) applications. The position spans specification, simulation, verification, tape-out, and early silicon bring-up while coordinating across analog, digital, firmware, packaging, test, and system teams.

Role requires strong cross-functional leadership and the ability to drive end-to-end silicon programs in ambiguous environments. Position is onsite in San Diego, 5 days per week.

Experience Level

Senior-level engineer. The posting targets experienced candidates (senior/staff/principal) with substantial industry experience in mixed-signal IC and system design.

Responsibilities

Lead architecture and execution of low-power mixed-signal ASICs and system integration.

• Define end-to-end system architecture and partitioning across analog, digital, firmware, and system domains.
• Make architectural trade-offs across power, performance, noise, latency, and silicon area.
• Drive transistor-level design and feasibility of mixed-signal blocks (ADCs, DACs, PLLs/DLLs, LDOs, SerDes) and ultra-low-power AFEs.
• Develop behavioral and system-level models (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink) to evaluate noise, linearity, and SNR.
• Plan and execute pre-silicon verification across PVT corners using industry-standard simulators.
• Lead post-silicon bring-up, characterization, reliability qualification (including HTOL/burn-in), and productization activities.
• Coordinate with IP vendors, third-party design houses, packaging, test, and system teams to deliver silicon products.
• Enable system and application workflows: multi-modal sensor acquisition, sensor fusion, and edge AI inference; support hardware–software integration.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, practical experience, and leadership capabilities for this senior role.

• Extensive industry experience in mixed-signal/analog IC and system-level design, including low-power design techniques.
• Proven track record as a chip lead, system architect, or technical lead driving end-to-end silicon programs from concept to production.
• Hands-on experience with analog design tools and flows: Cadence Virtuoso, AMS simulators; familiarity with Verilog for analog/digital interaction.
• Experience with Spectre, HSPICE, and board-level simulation methodologies.
• Working knowledge of PDKs, LVS, DRC, PEX flows, and ESD/reliability standards (HBM, CDM, TLP).
• Familiarity with digital design flows including synthesis and timing analysis; firmware and software integration experience desirable.
• Experience with embedded interfaces (I2C, I3C, SPI, MIPI) and scripting (Python or similar).
• Knowledge of deep submicron CMOS technologies, low-power fabrication processes, packaging, board-level validation, and system bring-up.
• Strong cross-functional communication, mentorship ability, and vendor/partner management skills.
• Position requires onsite presence in San Diego, 5 days per week.

Education Requirements

Minimum qualifications specify: Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field with 8+ years of relevant ASIC design/verification/validation/integration experience; OR Master's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field with 7+ years; OR PhD in Science, Engineering, or related field with 6+ years. Preferred qualifications reference a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (or related) with 8+ years post-degree, or an M.S. in Electrical Engineering (or related) with ~10–12+ years of industrial IC/system design experience. (Degrees in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or closely related technical fields are emphasized.)

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.