{"id":2751725,"url":"https://alion.io/job/qualcomm-embedded-real-time-operating-system-staff-software-engineer-qurt-os-zephyr","title":"Embedded Real Time Operating System Staff Software Engineer (QuRT OS, Zephyr)","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":1175,"ghost_share":0.222,"stale_share":0.123,"repost_share":0.468,"time_to_fill_p50_days":74,"computed_at":"2026-10-21T05:46:15Z"}},"role":"DevOps","role_family":"DevOps","seniority":"staff","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Diego, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":160200,"max":240200,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":240200},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":6,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Edge AI","optional":false},{"name":"RTOS","optional":false},{"name":"Assembly","optional":true},{"name":"C++","optional":true},{"name":"FreeRTOS","optional":true},{"name":"Git","optional":true},{"name":"GitHub Actions","optional":true},{"name":"Jenkins","optional":true},{"name":"Linux","optional":true},{"name":"QEMU","optional":true},{"name":"Rest-Assured","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-14T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-16","last_verified_at":"2026-10-21T17:31:42Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":7,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":7},"description":"Company:\nQualcomm Technologies, Inc.Job Area:\nEngineering Group, Engineering Group > DSP Architecture and DesignGeneral Summary:\nGeneral Summary\nQualcomm is seeking a Staff Embedded Software Engineer (6+ years of experience) to join the Core Platform Kernel software team. The Core Platform Kernel team develops and deploys real-time operating system (RTOS) software across multiple subsystems on Qualcomm SoCs, servicing Mobile Handset, XR, Compute, Automotive, Cloud AI, and IoT market segments. The team is responsible for the deployment and evolution of two RTOS platforms at scale: QuRT OS and Zephyr RTOS.\nAs part of Qualcomm's continued investment in open source software, this role will help drive our Zephyr strategy and serve as a technical leader for Qualcomm's engagement with the Zephyr ecosystem. We are specifically seeking engineers who can contribute to and help maintain upstream Zephyr components while enabling Zephyr deployment across Qualcomm products. This role is well suited for engineers who enjoy deep technical work, influence system architecture, collaborate across organizational boundaries, and have a passion for building software that benefits both Qualcomm products and the broader open-source community.\nWhat You'll Do As a Staff Engineer, you will:\nDesign, implement, and maintain RTOS and low-level system software components.\nOwn and drive resolution of complex system-level issues involving performance, stability, scalability, and correctness.\nLead feature development from problem definition through deployment.\nAnalyze crash dumps, traces, and logs to perform deep root-cause analysis.\nCollaborate closely with hardware, systems, validation, and software teams to deliver robust solutions.\nParticipate actively in design and code reviews, influencing technical direction and engineering standards.\nDrive Qualcomm's engagement with the Zephyr open-source community through technical discussions, code reviews, and upstream collaboration.\nMentor engineers on upstream development practices, code quality, and community engagement.\nInfluence technical roadmaps, architecture decisions, and software quality initiatives across the organization.\nYou will be expected to take ownership of key technical areas, make sound engineering tradeoffs, and help raise the effectiveness of the broader team through technical leadership and example. QuRT OS QuRT OS is Qualcomm's real-time operating system optimized for the Hexagon DSP, enabling high-performance, low-power workloads including edge AI, modem processing, audio, sensor processing, and other specialized compute workloads. In the QuRT OS space, you will:\nDrive enhancements to expose the full capability of the Hexagon processor architecture.\nDesign and implement new RTOS features with attention to correctness, performance, and maintainability.\nOwn features end-to-end: requirements, architecture, implementation, testing, documentation, integration, and support.\nImprove CI, automation, and test infrastructure to increase development velocity and software quality.\nZephyr RTOS The Core Platform Kernel team is a major adopter of Zephyr RTOS across Qualcomm SoCs and subsystems. We maintain a scalable Zephyr platform while contributing improvements back to the upstream community. This role is focused on technical leadership, stewardship, and upstream engineering within the Zephyr ecosystem. Successful candidates will possess a strong understanding of RTOS architecture, embedded systems, and open-source development practices. In the Zephyr space, you will:\nServe as a maintainer or technical owner for key Zephyr subsystems, drivers, platform infrastructure, or architecture components.\nReview, guide, and integrate contributions from both internal and external developers.\nDesign and implement new Zephyr capabilities with an emphasis on upstream acceptance and long-term maintainability.\nLead architecture discussions and influence technical direction within the Zephyr project.\nDrive Qualcomm's upstream contribution strategy and ensure internal development aligns with community best practices.\nCollaborate with maintainers and contributors from other companies across the Zephyr ecosystem.\nEnable Zephyr deployment across Qualcomm platforms through board support packages, architecture enablement, driver development, and system software integration.\nImprove testing, CI infrastructure, release readiness, and software quality across upstream and Qualcomm-maintained components.\nRepresent Qualcomm in technical working groups, design reviews, and community discussions.\nHelp shape the future evolution of Zephyr through upstream contributions, reviews, and technical leadership.\nHow You Work (Tools, Automation & Modern Engineering)\nStaff Engineers at Qualcomm are expected to be force multipliers, not just individual contributors. In practice, this means:\nApplying modern development tools, including AI-assisted tools, when they meaningfully improve productivity or code quality.\nLeveraging automation, scripting, CI systems, debuggers, profilers, static analysis tools, and simulation environments to improve engineering effectiveness.\nExercising strong engineering judgment regarding when automation is appropriate and when deeper hands-on investigation is required.\nContinuously identifying opportunities to improve engineering workflows, developer productivity, and software quality.\nYou are not expected to be an AI expert, but you are expected to be tool-fluent, curious, adaptable, and pragmatic.\nMinimum Qualifications:\n• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.OR\nMaster's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 3+ years of Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.\nOR\nPhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.\n• 2+ years of experience with high-performance microprocessor design.\nPreferred Qualifications\nStrong hands-on experience with RTOS concepts and low-level system software.\nProfessional development experience in C/C++ (assembly language experience is a plus).\nDeep understanding of RTOS fundamentals such as scheduling, interrupts, synchronization, memory management, and multicore systems.\nExperience debugging complex embedded software using logs, traces, crash dumps, and hardware debuggers.\nDemonstrated experience contributing to collaborative software projects using Git and modern code-review workflows.\nStrong written and verbal communication skills.\nAbility to collaborate effectively across teams and technical organizations.\nExperience with Zephyr, QuRT, FreeRTOS, Linux kernel, or other commercial/open-source operating systems.\nPrior experience serving as a maintainer, subsystem owner, or technical lead within an open-source project.\nSignificant upstream contribution history within Zephyr or similar open-source communities.\nExperience reviewing and integrating code contributions from multiple developers.\nFamiliarity with board support packages (BSPs), device drivers, architecture enablement, or kernel development.\nExperience with multicore SoC architectures and embedded processor subsystems.\nExperience with off-target development and simulation environments such as QEMU or ISS platforms.\nExperience with CI and automation systems such as Jenkins or GitHub Actions. Experience with safety- or security-related software development practices including ASPICE, ISO 26262, or ISO 21434.\nExperience collaborating across company boundaries in community-driven software development environments.\nWhy This Team\nThis team builds foundational RTOS software deployed across a broad range of Qualcomm products and markets. We work close to the hardware, solve difficult system-level problems, and influence both platform architecture and engineering practices. Qualcomm is making a long-term investment in Zephyr RTOS as a strategic platform across multiple product lines. This role provides a unique opportunity to shape both Qualcomm's internal RTOS strategy and the future direction of one of the industry's most important open-source embedded operating systems. The team values analytical thinking, technical excellence, collaboration, clear communication, and continuous improvement. Staff Engineers are expected to lead through technical expertise, mentor others, influence architecture decisions, and help deliver high-quality software at scale while remaining deeply hands-on with the code. If you are passionate about RTOS development, open-source software, and helping shape the future of Zephyr, we'd love to hear from you.\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$160,200.00 - $240,200.00The 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":11730,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":6,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Professional development"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Processors, MCUs & AI Chips","Autonomous Driving","RF & Wireless Hardware","Car Electronics"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-17T00:06:56Z"}],"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":18}],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":7,"expected_fill_days":74,"reasons":["conf:2","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-21T05:46:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":240200,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/qualcomm-embedded-real-time-operating-system-staff-software-engineer-qurt-os-zephyr","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/qualcomm-embedded-real-time-operating-system-staff-software-engineer-qurt-os-zephyr.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-21T20:26:24Z","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":29044,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-22T00:00:00Z"}},"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-embedded-real-time-operating-system-staff-software-engineer-qurt-os-zephyr"},{"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-embedded-real-time-operating-system-staff-software-engineer-qurt-os-zephyr"},{"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-embedded-real-time-operating-system-staff-software-engineer-qurt-os-zephyr"},{"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-embedded-real-time-operating-system-staff-software-engineer-qurt-os-zephyr\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fqualcomm-embedded-real-time-operating-system-staff-software-engineer-qurt-os-zephyr"}]}