Validation Engineer

Job Title

Validation Engineer

Role Summary

This role is part of Qualcomm's SoC Silicon Validation team responsible for system-level validation, integration, and bringing SoC silicon to production quality. The engineer will work on pre-silicon emulation and post-silicon regression, PVT testing, and collaborate with architects, designers, verification and software teams.

Experience Level

Mid-level. Minimum qualifications in the posting specify: Bachelor's degree + 2+ years relevant experience, Master's degree + 1+ year, or PhD.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include designing validation tests, developing low-level software, and performing silicon bring-up and system integration.

• Design, develop, and optimize system-level validation tests for multi-processor SoCs, focusing on concurrency and system use cases.
• Develop and maintain bare-metal software and low-level hardware interfaces, including register and interrupt programming, clock and power management.
• Collaborate with hardware and software teams to define and validate system-level software use cases and requirements.
• Debug and troubleshoot SoC behavior with limited visibility using development boards and lab equipment.
• Implement and optimize algorithms for performance, power, and memory footprint.
• Support pre-silicon validation using simulation, emulation, and FPGA platforms.
• Conduct post-silicon bring-up, regression validation, and system integration testing.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience; preferred skills listed separately.

• Strong understanding of operating systems concepts, caching, virtual memory, and embedded software fundamentals.
• Experience with bare-metal software development and low-level hardware interfaces.
• Proficiency in C and Assembly language.
• Familiarity with scripting (Python, Linux shell, or similar) for test automation.
• Hands-on debugging skills for SoC-level issues using lab equipment and development boards.
• Experience with pre-silicon platforms (simulation, emulation, FPGAs) and post-silicon validation flows.

Preferred:

• Experience applying machine learning models for system validation.
• Ability to read and interpret RTL (Verilog, VHDL) in the context of silicon validation.

Education Requirements

Posting specifies: Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering, or a related field plus 2+ years ASIC design/verification/validation/integration experience; OR Master's degree in Science, Engineering, or a related field plus 1+ year of relevant experience; OR PhD in Science, Engineering, or a related field.

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.