Staff Software Engineer - Qualcomm Advanced Robotics Team

Qualcomm

Actively hiring

Santa Clara, CA Posted 24 days ago $151,900–$227,900 / year

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At a glance

AI generated

TL;DR

As a senior Software Engineer on Qualcomm’s Advanced Robotics Team, you will lead the development of the company's robotics software platform, defining its architecture and driving technical design reviews for core middleware and services such as ROS 2/DDS. Your responsibilities include developing the platform roadmap, optimizing heterogeneous compute systems, and ensuring robustness through real-world validation and simulation techniques. You will mentor senior engineers, champion safety practices, and engage with customers to clarify requirements and guide integrations, all while leveraging Qualcomm’s mature developer ecosystem for industrial, commercial, and humanoid robots. This role requires expertise in C++, Python, ROS 2, DDS, and Linux for robotics, as well as experience in SLAM, visual-inertial odometry, dense/stereo depth, semantic mapping, planning & controls, manipulation, and real-time system considerations.

Skills

C++ Python ROS2 DDS Linux MCU/RTOS CPU GPU NPU DSP CI/CD SLAM VIO semantic mapping planning & controls manipulation Qualcomm robotics stacks on-device AI performance engineering heterogeneous SoCs

What you'll do

Develop the software architecture for Qualcomm's Robotics platform interfaces and runtime.
Drive the technical design reviews and roadmap for core robotics components like perception and navigation.
Validate real-world performance using simulation-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop testing methods.
Optimize software for heterogeneous compute architectures to ensure high performance on SoCs.
Champion safety practices and standards compliance in robotics software development.
Mentor senior engineers and set technical direction for the robotics platform.

What we're looking for

5+ years of software engineering experience with at least 4 years in robotics platforms.
Expertise in C++, Python, ROS 2, and DDS (QoS, discovery, message design).
Strong background in Linux for robotics, real-time systems, and MCU/RTOS interactions.
Experience optimizing performance on heterogeneous SoCs (CPU/GPU/NPU/DSP) and camera stacks.
Track record of leading large cross-functional efforts with architecture documentation and design reviews.
Demonstrated success in delivering developer-facing SDKs and comprehensive documentation.
Contributions to ROS 2 or relevant open-source robotics projects, including publications or patents.

Market check

Salary context

This $151,900–$227,900 range sits above 40% of similar postings on FindRole.

Peer median band

$143,000–$244,000

Median floor and ceiling across peers.

Typical midpoint (25–75%)

$165,000–$214,500

Middle half of comparable postings.

Based on 240 comparable postings.

* 240 is the maximum number of comparable postings sampled.

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 $148,300–$224,400 across 536 roles with salary data.

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View all roles at Qualcomm

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