Qualcomm · 3 days ago
Staff Engineer, Application Engineering (AI)
Santa Clara, California, United States of America
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$145K/yr - $218K/yr
3+ years expQualcomm is a leader in wireless technology and innovation. As a Staff Application Software Engineer in the WIN Customer Engineering team, you will lead the integration of AI/ML capabilities into next-generation Wi-Fi platforms, bridging the gap between AI research and commercial deployment.
Telecom & CommunicationsArtificial Intelligence (AI)SoftwareGenerative AITelecommunicationsWireless
Responsibilities
Lead the optimization of AI models (CNNs, Transformers, LLMs) for deployment on resource-constrained embedded targets
Utilize Quantization techniques (INT8/INT4) and pruning to fit models within limited memory (DDR) and compute budgets
Offload inference workloads to the Hexagon NPU (NSP) and DSP to maximize performance per watt, ensuring minimal impact on the host CPU
Perform deep-dive debugging of accuracy loss during quantization and runtime inference failures
Develop "Agentic" workflows where local LLMs (e.g., Llama 3, Phi-3) analyze network telemetry to autonomously optimize Wi-Fi performance or assist with troubleshooting
Implement pipelines for on-device Generative AI and Multi-modal models (Vision + Text) to enable smart sensing and security features on the Gateway
Conduct rigorous CPU and DDR profiling to ensure AI workloads do not starve the networking stack
Tune system memory interaction between the NPU, CPU, and Wi-Fi subsystems
Integrate AI inference engines (e.g., TFLite, ONNX Runtime, Qualcomm AI Stack) into the OpenWrt/Linux based SDK
Serve as the AI subject matter expert for customers, guiding them on model selection, training pipelines, and deployment strategies
Architect solutions that balance edge processing with cloud-based model updates and scalability
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Applications Engineering, Software Development experience, or related work experience
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 3+ years of Software Applications Engineering, Software Development experience, or related work experience
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Applications Engineering, Software Development experience, or related work experience
2+ years of experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc
1+ year of experience with debugging techniques
Preferred
Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
5+ years of software engineering experience with a strong focus on Embedded AI/ML
Deep proficiency in PyTorch or TensorFlow. Hands-on experience with CNNs (Object Detection, Classification) and LLMs (Transformers)
Expert knowledge of Model Quantization (Post-Training Quantization, QAT), model compression, and debugging accuracy issues
Strong coding skills in C/C++ and Python. Experience with Linux user-space development, multi-threading, and memory management
Proficiency with profiling tools (e.g., perf, eBPF, hardware counters) to analyze DDR bandwidth, cache misses, and CPU load
Excellent problem-solving abilities and communication skills to articulate complex AI concepts to networking engineers and customers
Benefits
Competitive annual discretionary bonus program
Opportunity for annual RSU grants
Highly competitive benefits package
Company
Qualcomm
Qualcomm designs wireless technologies and semiconductors that power connectivity, communication, and smart devices.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Qualcomm has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (2013)
2024 (1910)
2023 (3216)
2022 (2885)
2021 (2104)
2020 (1181)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$3.5M1991-12-20IPO
1988-01-01Undisclosed· $3.5M
Leadership Team
Cristiano Amon
President & CEO
I
Isaac Eteminan
CEO
Recent News
2026-02-12
San Diego Union-Tribune
2026-02-12
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