Virtual Robotics Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Company:
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Job Area:
Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering
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.
The Opportunity
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.
What you'll do

• 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.

How you'll lead

• Set the technical bar for platform correctness, determinism, and developer experience.
• Coach senior ICs and tech leads, building a strong review culture and CI/CD discipline for robotics.
• Partner with product and silicon teams to align software roadmaps with SoC capabilities and customer needs.

Why Qualcomm

• Opportunity to shape the software heart of a rapidly scaling robotics portfolio used across industrial, commercial, and emerging humanoid form factors.
• Build on a mature developer ecosystem (RBx/QRB platforms, on-device AI toolchains) and ship at the edge, globally.

Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 3+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• 2+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.
Preferred Qualifications:

• 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.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
• Leverages advanced Software knowledge and experience to design, develop, create, modify, and validate critical embedded and cloud edge software, applications, and/or specialized utility programs.
• Analyzes user needs, software requirements, and time and cost constraints to design and customize sophisticated software for optimal operational efficiency.
• Designs and implements software sub-systems for complex, large-scale products and systems.
• Leads design, coding, and testing efforts to ensure that projects are completed to specifications and schedules.
• Performs highly complex code reviews and regression tests as well as triages and fixes issues to ensure the quality of code.
• Collaborates with individuals outside the software function (e.g., Hardware, Systems, and Test engineers) to increase leverage and design solutions that work with other components of a specific project.
• Writes detailed technical documentation for highly complex Software projects; reviews technical documentation for junior engineers.
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).
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Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:
$151,900.00 - $227,900.00
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.