{"id":2642722,"url":"https://alion.io/job/qualcomm-cpu-software-hardware-co-design-engineer-ml-systems","title":"CPU Software & Hardware Co-Design Engineer (ML Systems)","company":{"id":94,"name":"Qualcomm","domain":"qualcomm.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/qualcomm","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Eightfold","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":72,"open_postings":1261,"ghost_share":0.213,"stale_share":0.109,"repost_share":0.471,"time_to_fill_p50_days":74,"computed_at":"2026-10-15T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"AI/ML","role_family":"AI/ML","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"board_field","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":["US"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":{"min":177300,"max":265900,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":265900},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Bottleneck","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"ONNX","optional":false},{"name":"PyTorch","optional":false},{"name":"PyTorch C++","optional":false},{"name":"QEMU","optional":false},{"name":"Recommender Systems","optional":false},{"name":"Cython","optional":true},{"name":"Java","optional":true},{"name":"Python","optional":true},{"name":"Rest-Assured","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-14T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-15","last_verified_at":"2026-10-16T02:19:49Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"Company:\nQualcomm Technologies, Inc.Job Area:\nEngineering Group, Engineering Group > Software EngineeringGeneral Summary:\nAs a leading technology innovator, Qualcomm pushes the boundaries of what's possible to enable next-generation experiences and drives digital transformation to help create a smarter, connected future for all. As a Qualcomm Software Engineer, you will design, develop, create, modify, and validate embedded and cloud edge software, applications, and/or specialized utility programs that launch cutting-edge, world class products that meet and exceed customer needs. Qualcomm Software Engineers collaborate with systems, hardware, architecture, test engineers, and other teams to design system-level software solutions and obtain information on performance requirements and interfaces.\nRole Overview\nWe are building a high-impact team at the intersection of CPU architecture, machine learning workloads, and system-level performance optimization. This role focuses on CPU software-hardware co-design for next-generation QMX architectures, including workload characterization, simulation, kernel optimization, and driving architectural insights for future CPU designs. The ideal candidate will work across the full stack-from ML models to low-level kernels to architectural feedback-enabling efficient execution of ML workloads on CPU platforms.\nKey Responsibilities\n1. ML Workload Identification & Characterization\nIdentify and prioritize critical ML use cases and models for CPU-centric execution (LLMs, vision, speech, recommender systems, etc.)\nAnalyze workload characteristics including:Compute intensityMemory bandwidth and cache behaviorParallelism and dataflow patterns\n2. Simulation & Trace Generation\nGenerate detailed execution traces for ML workloads using QEMU or equivalent simulators\nDevelop tooling to:Capture instruction-level execution behaviorExtract performance counters and bottlenecks\nEnable accurate modeling of workload behavior for architectural exploration\n3. Bottleneck Analysis & Performance Optimization\nIdentify system bottlenecks across:CPU pipelinesMemory hierarchyInstruction utilization\nOptimize critical hotspots through:Kernel-level tuningAlgorithmic improvementsData layout and memory optimizations\nDrive measurable improvements in workload performance\n4. Software-Hardware Co-Design\nCollaborate with CPU architecture and design teams to:Provide data-driven insights from real workloadsIdentify inefficiencies and propose architectural enhancements\nInfluence next-generation CPU features in:Compute unitsVector/SIMD extensions (e.g., QMX)Memory subsystems\n5. ML Kernel & Library Development (QMX Focus)\nDesign and implement highly optimized ML kernels and libraries for QMX architecture\nDevelop kernels for:GEMM, convolution, attention, activation functions, etc.\nEnable integration with:Open-source ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, ONNX, XNNPACK, MLAS)\nApply advanced optimizations:SIMD/vectorizationCache-aware executionParallel execution strategies\n6. Benchmarking & Performance Engineering\nOptimize CPU-centric ML benchmarks such as:Geekbench AIInternal benchmarking suites\nEstablish performance baselines and track improvements across hardware generations\nPerform competitive analysis and performance positioning\nRequired Qualifications\nStrong background in:Computer Architecture / Systems ProgrammingMachine Learning fundamentals\nProficiency in:C/C++ (mandatory)\nExperience with:Performance profiling, benchmarking, and optimization\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with:QEMU or equivalent simulatorsML kernel development (GEMM, convolution, attention)\nKnowledge of:CPU architecture (pipelines, caching, SIMD/vector extensions such as NEON, SVE, QMX)\nFamiliarity with:ML frameworks and inference stacks\nExperience with low-level optimization:Intrinsics, assembly, memory and cache tuning\nMinimum Qualifications:\n• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.OR\nMaster's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 7+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.\nOR\nPhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.\n• 4+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.\nQualcomm 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  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).\nTo 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.\nEEO 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.\nQualcomm 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.\nPay rangeand Other Compensation & Benefits :\n$177,300.00 - $265,900.00The 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.\nIf you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7239,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Artificial Intelligence","Autonomous Driving","RF & Wireless Hardware","Car Electronics"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-15T19:14:59Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 55 · green card filings: 6","filings_12m":55,"filings_prev_12m":87,"green_card_filings_12m":6,"median_offered_wage_usd":122008,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":25}],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":2,"expected_fill_days":74,"reasons":["conf:3","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-16T05:47:10Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":265900,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/qualcomm-cpu-software-hardware-co-design-engineer-ml-systems","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/qualcomm-cpu-software-hardware-co-design-engineer-ml-systems.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-16T05:47:10Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3146,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-17T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":94},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=94"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fqualcomm-cpu-software-hardware-co-design-engineer-ml-systems"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fqualcomm-cpu-software-hardware-co-design-engineer-ml-systems"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fqualcomm-cpu-software-hardware-co-design-engineer-ml-systems"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/qualcomm-cpu-software-hardware-co-design-engineer-ml-systems\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fqualcomm-cpu-software-hardware-co-design-engineer-ml-systems"}]}