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Rtl Director Jobs (NOW HIRING)

We are seeking an experienced CPU-Core RTL Manager to lead a team of highly skilled CPU RTL engineers responsible for developing industry-leading high-performance, low-power CPU cores. In this role ...

We are seeking an experienced CPU‑Core RTL Manager to lead a team of highly skilled CPU RTL engineers responsible for developing industry‑leading high‑performance, low‑power CPU cores. In ...

We connect caliber candidates with leading companies in contract, contract-to-hire and direct-hire ... Role: (RTL) Design Engineer Location: Santa Clara, CA (Hybrid negotiable) Interview: Phone/Skype We ...

We connect caliber candidates with leading companies in contract, contract-to-hire and direct-hire ... Role: (RTL) Design Engineer Location: Santa Clara, CA (Hybrid negotiable) Interview: Phone/Skype We ...

Sr DSP / RTL Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site

$154K/yr

The Role We're looking for a Senior DSP / RTL Engineer who can own both the signal processing ... Direct experience with digital beamforming, adaptive arrays, MIMO processing, or space‑time ...

Digital RTL Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site

$154K/yr

The Role We're looking for a Digital RTL Engineer to design the digital control, beamforming, and ... Joining a startup at this stage means your work has a direct, visible effect on whether the company ...

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How much do rtl director jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 9, 2026, the average yearly pay for rtl director in the United States is $135,763.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $109,500.00 and $163,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

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Infographic showing various Rtl Director job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 84% Full Time, 12% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 92% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 5% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $135,763 per year, or $65.3 per hour.

CPU-Core RTL Director

Austin, TX • On-site

Qualcomm
Technology, Communication and Media • 10K+ employees

Full-time

Posted 10 days ago


Key responsibilities

  • Lead a team of CPU RTL engineers responsible for the design and delivery of complex CPU subsystems.

  • Partner with CPU architects to translate architectural requirements into microarchitectural implementations.

  • Own RTL execution and delivery for CPU projects from concept through silicon, including milestone planning and project management.


Qualcomm rating

8.8

Company rating: 8.8 out of 10

Based on 11 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

48th of 247 rated software companies


Job description

Company:
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Job Area:
Engineering Group, Engineering Group > CPU Engineering
General Summary:
Qualcomm is a company of inventors that unlocked 5G and continues to drive the next generation of intelligent computing platforms. Our custom CPU technology powers industry-leading mobile, automotive, XR, AI, and compute products through breakthrough performance and power efficiency.
We are seeking an experienced CPU-Core RTL Manager to lead a team of highly skilled CPU RTL engineers responsible for developing industry-leading high-performance, low-power CPU cores. In this role, you will provide technical and organizational leadership across the entire CPU development lifecycle, from early architectural exploration through RTL implementation, verification, physical design convergence, silicon bring-up, and product delivery.
The ideal candidate combines deep CPU design expertise with strong people leadership skills. You will drive execution across multiple projects, make informed technical tradeoffs involving power, performance, area, timing, and schedule, and help shape the future direction of Qualcomm's custom CPU roadmap.
Roles and Responsibilities
Technical Leadership
  • Lead a team of CPU RTL engineers responsible for the design and delivery of complex CPU subsystems including instruction fetch, decode, branch prediction, scheduling, execution pipelines, memory subsystems, cache hierarchy, power management, and related functionality.
  • Partner with CPU architects to translate architectural requirements into scalable and efficient microarchitectural implementations.
  • Provide technical direction on microarchitecture, RTL implementation, timing closure, power optimization, verification readiness, and silicon debug.
  • Drive high-quality design reviews and ensure design decisions are consistent with long-term CPU roadmap objectives.
  • Make critical technical decisions involving power, performance, area, frequency, schedule, and risk tradeoffs.

Project Execution
  • Own RTL execution and delivery for one or more CPU projects from concept through silicon.
  • Drive milestone planning and execution, including architecture reviews, RTL development, verification readiness, design freezes, tapeout preparation, and post-silicon support.
  • Lead bug triage and resolution efforts, ensuring efficient prioritization of functional, performance, power, timing, and methodology issues.
  • Evaluate design risks and develop mitigation strategies to maintain project schedules.
  • Coordinate cross-functional activities among Architecture, RTL, Verification, Physical Design, Power, DFT, CAD, Emulation, Firmware, and Program Management teams.

PPA and Design Quality
  • Drive achievement of aggressive performance, power, area, frequency, and product goals.
  • Guide teams through complex design tradeoffs involving pipeline depth, structure sizing, speculation mechanisms, clocking strategies, memory hierarchy, and low-power features.
  • Review performance analysis, workload data, silicon characterization results, and physical design feedback to identify optimization opportunities.
  • Champion design quality through methodology improvements, automation, code health, design reviews, and best practices.

Organization and People Leadership
  • Recruit, retain, mentor, and develop top engineering talent across multiple experience levels.
  • Establish technical growth plans and career development opportunities for team members.
  • Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, technical excellence, and collaboration.
  • Help define team priorities, resource allocation, and organizational strategy to meet evolving business needs.
  • Build strong partnerships across global engineering teams spanning multiple sites and disciplines.

Silicon and Product Leadership
  • Support silicon bring-up, performance characterization, power analysis, and post-silicon debug activities.
  • Drive root-cause analysis and corrective actions for critical product issues.
  • Participate in long-term CPU roadmap planning and technology strategy discussions.

Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 7+ years of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.
Required for this Role
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
  • 12+ years of experience in CPU RTL design, microarchitecture, or related semiconductor development.
  • 3+ years of experience leading engineering teams or large technical projects.
  • Strong understanding of modern high-performance CPU architecture and microarchitecture.
  • Proven experience delivering complex RTL designs into production silicon.

Preferred Qualifications
  • MS or PhD degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline.
  • Deep expertise in one or more of the following domains:
    • Instruction fetch and branch prediction
    • Decode and rename
    • Out-of-order scheduling and execution
    • Integer and floating-point execution
    • Vector/SIMD execution
    • Load-store subsystems
    • Prefetching and memory hierarchy
    • MMU and virtualization
    • Cache and coherency systems
    • Power management and low-power design
  • Expert knowledge of SystemVerilog and modern RTL development methodologies.
  • Strong understanding of timing closure, physical design interactions, power optimization, and silicon implementation.
  • Experience leading cross-functional execution across Architecture, DV, PD, DFT, CAD, and Product Engineering organizations.
  • Demonstrated ability to make high-impact technical and business tradeoffs under schedule pressure.
  • Experience driving methodology, automation, AI-assisted design workflows, and engineering productivity improvements.
  • Strong communication and leadership skills with the ability to influence across organizations and executive leadership levels.

Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation during the application/hiring process, rest assured that Qualcomm is committed to providing an accessible process. You may e-mail disability-accomodations@qualcomm.com or call Qualcomm's toll-free number found here. Upon request, Qualcomm will provide reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities to be able participate in the hiring process. Qualcomm is also committed to making our workplace accessible for individuals with disabilities. (Keep in mind that this email address is used to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. We will not respond here to requests for updates on applications or resume inquiries).
To all Staffing and Recruiting Agencies: Our Careers Site is only for individuals seeking a job at Qualcomm. Staffing and recruiting agencies and individuals being represented by an agency are not authorized to use this site or to submit profiles, applications or resumes, and any such submissions will be considered unsolicited. Qualcomm does not accept unsolicited resumes or applications from agencies. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Qualcomm employees or any other company location. Qualcomm is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes/applications.
EEO Employer: Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or any other protected classification.
Qualcomm expects its employees to abide by all applicable policies and procedures, including but not limited to security and other requirements regarding protection of Company confidential information and other confidential and/or proprietary information, to the extent those requirements are permissible under applicable law.
Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:
$228,400.00 - $342,600.00
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.

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About Qualcomm

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

Qualcomm is enabling a world where everyone and everything can be intelligently connected. You interact with products and technologies made possible by Qualcomm every day, including 5G-enabled smartphones that double as pro-level cameras and gaming devices, smarter vehicles and cities, and the technology behind the smart, connected factories that manufactured your latest purchase. Our powerful connectivity solutions keep you connected—even in remote areas. Qualcomm 5G and AI innovations are the power behind the connected intelligent edge. You’ll find our technologies behind and inside the innovations that deliver significant value across multiple industries and to billions of people every day.

Industry

Technology, communication and media

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

San Diego, CA, US

Year founded

1985