Staff RTL Verification Engineer — RISC-V Application Processor

Job Title

Staff RTL Verification Engineer — RISC-V Application Processor

Role Summary

Lead verification efforts for next-generation high-performance RISC‑V application processors and complex SoC subsystems. Define verification strategy, develop scalable verification infrastructure, drive execution across domains, and mentor engineers.

The role partners with architecture, design, software, validation, and implementation teams to ensure silicon quality and delivery.

Experience Level

Senior-level. Target: 10+ years of RTL/ASIC verification experience; technical leadership and cross-team influence expected.

Responsibilities

Accountable for verification strategy and delivery across CPU and SoC subsystems from specification to silicon signoff.

• Lead verification planning, test plans, coverage models, and signoff criteria for CPU/SoC subsystems.
• Architect and develop advanced, reusable verification environments and infrastructure.
• Drive execution: debug, coverage closure, risk mitigation, and milestone readiness.
• Provide verification-driven guidance to influence architectural and microarchitectural decisions.
• Coordinate cross-functional technical initiatives across multiple teams and sites.
• Champion methodology improvements and automation across the organization.
• Mentor and provide technical leadership to engineers and senior staff.

Requirements

Core technical and leadership requirements. Candidates with equivalent practical experience who can demonstrate the required competencies will be considered.

• 10+ years of RTL/ASIC verification experience, including leading verification for CPU, SoC, or complex subsystems.
• Strong SystemVerilog and UVM experience; coverage-driven and constrained-random verification expertise.
• Experience with assertions and assertion-based verification (SVA).
• Deep debugging skills and ability to resolve complex design/verification issues independently.
• Strong understanding of microprocessor architecture, cache/memory hierarchy, coherency protocols, MMU/virtual memory concepts.
• Proven ability to define verification strategy, close coverage, and lead signoff activities across large functional domains.
• Strong programming/scripting skills (C/C++, Python, Perl, Tcl, or similar).
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and technical leadership; experience mentoring other engineers.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience verifying high-performance CPU cores or application processors.
• Deep knowledge of RISC‑V privileged architecture, interrupts, and exception handling.
• Experience with formal verification, emulation, or FPGA-based platforms.
• Track record of driving verification methodology improvements and leading multi-site efforts.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field is listed. Minimum-qualification examples in the posting: Bachelor's +4 years, Master's +3 years, or PhD +2 years of relevant experience. Equivalent practical experience will be considered.

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.