About the job
As Software Engineer, you will be the senior technical developer for Qualcomm’s robotics software platform—defining the end‑to‑end architecture, raising the engineering bar across core middleware and services (ROS 2/DDS), and leading cross‑functional teams to deliver production‑grade SDKs and reference solutions that customers can take to market. You’ll combine deep systems expertise with hands‑on leadership across perception/SLAM, planning & control, real‑time Linux/MCU, and on‑device AI shipping robust software on Qualcomm robotics SoCs.
Responsibilities
Develop the software architecture for the Qualcomm Robotics platform interfaces, runtime, QoS, and safety envelopes across Linux + MCU subsystems; drive DDS/ROS 2 patterns for reliable, real‑time data flow on heterogeneous compute, and system mapping and optimization to Qualcomm Robotics platform.
Develop the platform roadmap and technical design reviews across perception (VIO/VSLAM, DFS), mapping, semantic scene understanding, navigation, manipulation, and SDK components; ensure high performance and low power on our SoCs.
Drive real‑world validation using sim‑in‑the‑loop and HIL; establish metrics for robustness, determinism, and regression across camera/IMU/LiDAR stacks and whole‑robot scenarios.
Optimize for heterogeneous compute (CPU/GPU/DSP/NPU) and camera pipeline/ISP; guide teams on concurrency, memory/power budgets, and accelerator utilization for on‑device AI.
Champion safety & reliability practices and interfaces compatible with relevant standards (e.g., ISO 26262/IEC 61508 alignment where applicable) and design for field diagnostics, observability, and OTA update paths.
Mentor and grow senior engineers across core platform, perception, controls, and SDK setting crisp technical direction, code quality bars, and review culture.
Engage customers & partners as the senior technical face of the platform clarify requirements, guide integrations, and translate learnings into the roadmap.
Qualifications
Minimum
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 5+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• 3+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.
Preferred
5+ years in software engineering, with 4+ years building robotics platforms, Ubuntu, ROS2 or complex real‑time distributed systems; proven record shipping SDKs or core runtimes. Expert in C++ (modern) and Python with production experience in ROS 2 and DDS (QoS, discovery, message design, and tracing). Depth in : Physical AI embedded and virtual platforms, SLAM/visual‑inertial odometry, dense/stereo depth, semantic mapping, planning & controls, or manipulation—with demonstrable system‑level integration on embedded platforms. Strong background in Linux for robotics, real‑time considerations, and MCU/RTOS interactions (time sync, safety islands, bootloaders, field firmware management). Performance engineering on heterogeneous SoCs (CPU/GPU/NPU/DSP) and camera/ISP stacks; hands‑on profiling and optimization. BS/MS in CS, EE, Robotics, or related field (PhD a plus). Track record leading large cross‑functional efforts (architecture docs, design reviews, de‑risking, postmortems) that landed in customer products. Experience delivering developer‑facing SDKs and documentation; familiarity with Qualcomm robotics stacks and ROS 2 package ecosystems. Demonstrated results in on‑device AI for perception or policy (model optimization, quantization, or pipeline fusion) on edge devices. Contributions to ROS/ROS 2 or relevant open‑source robotics projects; publications/patents in SLAM, perception, manipulation, or real‑time systems.