Phd Robotics Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Company:
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Job Area:
Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Multimedia Systems
General Summary:
About Qualcomm Robotics
Qualcomm Advanced Robotics Team is building the AI first stack and platform for the next generation general purpose robots - from AMRs and cobots to emerging humanoids by pairing heterogeneous compute (CPU/GPU/DSP/NPU) with a full Robotics SDK and developer tooling for manipulation, perception, navigation, and fleet workflows. We are leveraging our success in automated driving product portfolio, advanced AI end to end development and tools, and safety architecture to accelerate the growth in this emerging market.
About the Role
We are building a new robotics lab and are looking for hands-on roboticists who are excited about putting state-of-the-art SoCs, Software and AI into real, physical robots. This role is focused on taking advanced AI models, algorithms, and systems-and making them work reliably on-device, on real robotic platforms operating in the real world.
You will be part of a team translating cutting-edge advances in AI, compute, and connectivity into complete physical AI systems. This includes deploying modern perception, VLA, and reasoning models onto robots, integrating them with sensors and actuators, and validating that they perform as expected outside of simulation. The work spans development, integration, testing, and demo readiness, with a strong emphasis on seeing how AI behaves when embedded in real robotic systems.
This is a highly applied role at the intersection of mechanical systems, software, robotics, and AI. You'll work hands-on in the lab building and iterating on robot applications that showcase how Qualcomm's technologies-Dragonwing, AI Engine, compute, Wi-Fi, and 5G-enable intelligent, connected robots. Expect to spend time deploying models to hardware, debugging system-level issues, building sample and reference applications, and preparing robots for internal and external demonstrations.
If you are passionate about closing the gap between state-of-the-art AI research and real-world robotic capability-and want to work directly with robots as they perceive, plan, move, and act-this role is for you.
What you'll do

• Build end-to-end robotics applications that integrate perception, planning, control, and actuation on-device

• Deploy AI and robotics models developed by research teams onto physical robots and evaluate real-world performance

• Translate Qualcomm's AI, compute, and connectivity portfolio (Dragonwing, AI Engine, Wi-Fi, 5G) into working robotics solutions

• Perform robot integration and system bring-up, including sensors, actuators, compute platforms, and networking

• Develop and maintain robot applications for internal testing, external demos, and sample/reference solutions

• Design and execute robot testing, validation, and benchmarking in lab environments

• Prepare robots for demo readiness, ensuring reliability, repeatability, and polished behavior

• Debug complex cross-disciplinary issues spanning mechanical systems, electronic systems, embedded software, perception pipelines, and control

• Collaborate with AI, systems, hardware, and platform teams to close the loop between development and deployment

• Actively work in the robotics lab-configuring robots, running experiments, and iterating quickly with hardware

Why Qualcomm

• You will help stand up a brand-new advanced robotics lab and shape how we build and test robots from day one

• You will work on real robots, not just simulations or papers

• You'll see your work used in demos, reference platforms, and sample applications

• You'll be at the center of turning advanced AI and compute into physical AI systems

• You'll work across disciplines, touching everything from sensors and motion to AI inference and connectivity

Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 1+ year of Systems Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field.
Preferred Qualifications:

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or related field.

• Experience working with physical robots in lab or field environments

• • Strong foundation across robotics domains, including:
  
  
  • Perception (vision, sensors, AI models)
  
  
  • Planning and/or decision-making
  
  
  • Control and actuation
  
  
  • Systems integration
  
  
  • Electronics
  
  
  • Metrology (e.g. sensor calibration procedures, high-performance measurement sensors)

• Ability to take models, algorithms, or prototypes and deploy them onto real robots

• Practical experience running robot testing, validation, and demos

• Comfort developing full robotic applications, not just isolated components

• Experience integrating hardware, software, and AI into cohesive systems

• Familiarity with robotics software stacks (e.g., ROS/ROS2 or similar frameworks)

• Strong debugging skills and a bias toward hands-on problem solving

• Willingness and enthusiasm to work onsite in a robotics lab

• Background in mechanical, electrical, software, or systems engineering (or a blend)

• Experience with on-device AI deployment and optimization

• Familiarity with networking, connectivity, or distributed robotics systems

• Experience building reference designs, sample applications, or demo platforms

• Prior work supporting customer demos or public demonstrations

• Exposure to mobile robots, manipulators, drones, or autonomous systems

Why Join Us?

• Shape the core platform that powers intelligent, safe, and scalable robotic operations.

• Work with some of the most advanced robotic AI models on the planet.

• Influence the optimization and deployment pipeline for next-generation robotic intelligence.

• Competitive compensation, deep technical growth, and the opportunity to shape the future of on-device AI.

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Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:
$122,500.00 - $183,700.00
The above pay scale reflects the broad, minimum to maximum, pay scale for this job code for the location for which it has been posted. Even more importantly, please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Qualcomm. We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales-incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus). In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that Qualcomm has to offer - and you can review more details about our US benefits at this link.
If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.