Hiring: Principal / Director – Robotics System Architecture Lead Company: Qualcomm Location: San Diego, CA Job Posted Time: 2026-09-03 10:43:39 Target Skills & Keywords : Embedded Systems, Firmware, Linux, SOC, Systems Engineering About the job Experience: •8+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. •7+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. •6+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. •15+ years of experience in robotics, autonomous systems, embedded platforms, or large-scale software systems. Required Skills: •Own end-to-end robotics system architecture spanning hardware, firmware, OS, middleware, AI runtimes, and cloud/fleet integration. •Define architectural principles for real-time behavior, performance, safety isolation, determinism, and scalability across heterogeneous compute (CPU/GPU/DSP/NPU/MCU). •Lead architectural decisions across perception, localization, navigation, planning, manipulation, and control stacks. •Define multi-sensor architecture (cameras, IMU, lidar/radar, depth) including timing/synchronization, calibration, bandwidth, and compute/power trade-offs for robust perception and state estimation. •Architect time synchronization and deterministic sensor data paths (e.g., hardware timestamping, clock discipline, PTP/IEEE 1588 where applicable) to enable precise multi-sensor fusion and real-time decision making. •Guide signal processing and sensor pipeline design (ISP, filtering, denoising, feature extraction, sensor fusion inputs), partnering with silicon and algorithm teams to meet accuracy, latency, and reliability targets. •Drive integration of ROS 2 / DDS-based middleware and Qualcomm AI technologies into a cohesive, production-grade robotics platform. •Partner with silicon, software, AI, and product teams to ensure alignment between software architecture and SoC capabilities, influencing future platform requirements as needed. Qualifications: •Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. •OR Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 7+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. •PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. •Works in the lab, can use hazardous chemicals (e.g., glue, machinery). •Master’s degree or PhD in a relevant technical field. •Proven experience owning system-level architecture across hardware and software boundaries. •In-depth knowledge of robotics fundamentals: perception, sensor fusion, estimation, planning, and control. •Demonstrated ability to drive alignment and influence decisions across cross-functional engineering teams. •Applied hands-on capability in ROS 2, DDS, real-time Linux, MCU-based systems, and AI inference runtimes. •Operational familiarity with cloud-connected robotics, fleet management, or edge-to-cloud architectures. Interested candidates, please apply directly through the job posting on company's career page or try via AI auto apply on this platform. Don't miss this opportunity to join a forward-thinking team!