SoC Systems & Infrastructure Engineer (Design Validation Debug FPGA Emulation Software)

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Job Opportunity Qualcomm is a global technology leader driving innovations in wireless communications, AI, computing, and connected systems. Our engineering teams develop industry-leading silicon, software, FPGA prototyping platforms, emulation systems, and validation solutions that enable the next generation of mobile, automotive, AI, and edge computing products.

Role Summary We are seeking highly motivated engineers to join Qualcomm's SoC Design, Validation, Debug, Infrastructure, FPGA, and Emulation organizations. In this role, you will work on industry-leading SoCs and development platforms spanning design, validation, system debug, silicon characterization, CAD software, FPGA prototyping, and emulation.

You will collaborate closely with architects, RTL designers, verification engineers, software developers, and validation teams to develop innovative solutions that improve product quality, accelerate system bring-up, and enable next-generation computing platforms.

Key Responsibilities Develop and enhance solutions supporting SoC design, validation, debug, FPGA prototyping, and emulation environments.

Design, implement, validate, and debug hardware and software components used in advanced SoC development platforms.

Perform pre-silicon and post-silicon bring-up, failure analysis, root-cause investigation, and performance characterization.

Develop automation, infrastructure, and tooling using modern programming languages and scripting environments.

Support debugging of low-level hardware and software issues across complex SoC platforms.

Analyze system performance, power, functionality, reliability, and timing across multiple subsystems.

Collaborate with global engineering teams, technology partners, and tool vendors to improve methodologies, workflows, and product quality.

Leverage automation and AI technologies to improve engineering productivity and debug efficiency.

Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.

Experience in one or more of the following areas:

ASIC / SoC Design

Hardware or System Debug

Validation Engineering

FPGA Development

Emulation Platforms

CAD / EDA / Software Development

Strong analytical, debugging, and problem-solving skills.

Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, cross-functional environment.

Preferred Qualifications Master's or PhD in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.

Experience with complex SoC architectures including CPUs, DSPs, GPUs, DDR, NoCs, peripherals, and interconnects.

Experience with Linux and embedded software development.

Familiarity with modern AI-assisted engineering workflows and automation technologies.

Core Technical Skills Programming & Software

C/C++

Python

Tcl

Perl

Linux / Embedded Linux

Software Design and Development Practices

Automation and Scripting

Hardware & SoC

ASIC Design

SoC Architecture

Hardware Validation

Hardware Debug

Performance and Power Analysis

RTL Design

Verilog / SystemVerilog

FPGA Design

Tools & Infrastructure

JTAG Debug

Git

JIRA

CI/CD Automation Flows

Simulation, Emulation, and Prototyping Tools

Linux Development Environments

Hardware and Software Debug Tools

Specialized Skills Areas: Candidates may specialize in one or more of the following domains:

Content and Validation: SoC/System Validation Expertise – End-to-end pre-silicon and post-silicon validation, bring-up, system integration, and silicon debug.

Hardware-Software Co-Debug – Strong debugging across SoC architecture, embedded software, firmware, drivers, and hardware interfaces.

Validation Content & Framework Development – Design scalable test content, automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, analysis, and debug infrastructure.

Low-Level Programming – Proficiency in C/C++, Python, Assembly, Linux, device drivers, and bare-metal software development.

Architecture & Domain Knowledge – Deep understanding of CPU, DDR, NoC/interconnects, memory hierarchy, clock/power management, low-power modes, and performance architecture.

Performance, Power & Concurrency Analysis – System-level validation of bandwidth, latency, QoS, throughput, scalability, and power-performance tradeoffs.

Pre-Silicon Platforms – Experience with simulation, emulation (RUMI/Veloce/FPGA), RTL understanding, and validation readiness.

AI-Driven Validation – Applying AI/ML to improve validation productivity.

Lab & Debug Tools – Hands-on experience with JTAG, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, kernel debuggers, and silicon debug methodologies.

Technical Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration – Work effectively across architecture, design, firmware, software, and validation teams to drive silicon quality.

Silicon Validation & Debug Pre-silicon and post-silicon bring-up

Failure analysis and root-cause debugging

Platform-level debug

Lab equipment usage

JTAG and trace-based debugging

PVT and marginality analysis

AI-assisted debug automation

Power & Performance Validation Power characterization

Thermal analysis

Vmin/Fmax characterization

CPU/GPU/DDR/NoC analysis

Performance optimization

Low-power design methodologies

DFT & Manufacturing Validation MBIST

ATPG

Structural testing

Yield analysis

Scan-based debug

Silicon characterization

FPGA Firmware & Embedded Systems Xilinx and Intel FPGA platforms

FPGA firmware development

Embedded Linux

PCIe, AXI, Ethernet, and I2C protocols

High-speed digital design

Clock domain crossing and timing closure

Emulation & Platform Methodology FPGA prototyping

Palladium and Veloce platforms

Emulation build generation

Platform bring-up

System-level debug methodologies

Timing closure and deployment flows

CAD & EDA Software Development CAD tool development

Algorithms and data structures

Emulation infrastructure

Synthesis optimization

Partitioning

Clock optimization

Compute and storage optimization

Why Join Us Work on industry-leading mobile, AI, automotive, and computing SoCs.

Collaborate with world-class engineers across hardware, software, FPGA, emulation, validation, and debug domains.

Solve challenging technical problems that span the entire silicon development lifecycle.