This role pays more than
85%
of similar roles. Most pay
$171,874–$235,875
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$271k
versus about
$204k
for comparable roles.
Based on 240 similar postings.
Employer
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm is a leading American semiconductor and telecommunications company based in San Diego, CA.
Qualcomm currently has
569 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$153,600–$223,200
across 548 roles with salary data.
As a Principal System Lead – Multimedia Systems (Android Ecosystem), you will join the Mobile Product System and Architecture organization to define and optimize next-generation mobile system solutions. You will work closely with hardware, software, and foundational IP systems teams to translate OEM requirements into concrete architectures for Qualcomm’s mobile SoCs and software platforms. Your daily responsibilities include analyzing multimedia use cases across camera, video, graphics, and display pipelines while performing trade-off analyses regarding power efficiency, performance, latency, thermal limits, and memory bandwidth. You will identify architectural improvements for the Android ecosystem and collaborate with cross-functional teams to align system designs with product roadmaps. The role requires expertise in semiconductor product development, multimedia subsystems, and technical leadership to solve complex problems at the hardware and software boundary while contributing to the company's intellectual property portfolio through patent filings.
Map OEM use cases for camera, video, graphics, and display pipelines to Qualcomm hardware and Android software solutions.
Propose system-level architectural improvements for next-generation products with a focus on power efficiency and sustained performance.
Perform trade-off analyses across power, performance, latency, thermal limits, and memory bandwidth based on end-to-end user scenarios.
Influence architectural decisions across multimedia pipelines, compute subsystems, memory hierarchies, and power management systems.
Resolve complex system problems by applying first-principles thinking to ambiguous requirements and data-driven analysis.
Identify and resolve inefficiencies at the hardware/software boundary to improve user experience and power efficiency.
Contribute to the company's intellectual property portfolio through invention disclosures and patent filings for multimedia architectures.
What we're looking for
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field and 8+ years of experience.
Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field and 7+ years of experience.
PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field and 6+ years of experience.
8+ years of experience in one or more areas of semiconductor product development.
5+ years of experience in a technical leadership role.
Master's Degree or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field (preferred).
8–10 years of experience in semiconductor product development including system design, architecture, hardware design, and validation (preferred).
3+ years of experience making trade-offs between product KPIs and costs; 5+ years in a large matrixed organization; and 3+ years interacting with senior leadership (preferred).
System Architecture
3D Integration
Chiplets
Memory Systems
PCIe
SATA
Power Management
high-speed IO
Heterogeneous Integration
Technology Scouting
Remote Device Management