Staff/Sr. Staff Software Engineer, AI Software Tools (Onsite)

THIS IS A FULL-TIME ONSITE ROLE REQUIRING 5 DAYS A WEEK IN OFFICE AT QUALCOMM’S SAN DIEGO LOCATION

About the role

As a Staff/Sr. Staff Software Engineer in the Qualcomm AI Stack SDK Software team, you will design, develop, and deliver advanced AI/ML software solutions for Generative AI inference on Snapdragon platforms. This role focuses on model optimization, quantization, graph transformations, and runtime execution for modern AI architectures including LLMs, LVMs, and LMMs. You will work at the intersection of machine learning algorithms, inference optimization, graph lowering, and systems software, contributing directly to the Qualcomm AI Stack SDK (QAIRT), and associated tools, including delegates support for ONNX Runtime, Executorch and TFLite/LiteRT frameworks.

You will collaborate with engineers from ML Research, AI accelerator HW/SW teams, Product Management, Program Management, and QA across multiple locations to drive features from concept to production. This role requires strong technical ownership, the ability to work independently, and the capability to drive features end-to-end while mentoring junior engineers.

Responsibilities

• Convert, optimize, and deploy AI models from PyTorch and ONNX frameworks for efficient inference on Snapdragon platforms.
• Design and implement graph transformations, graph lowering, and optimization techniques within AI runtime environments such as ONNX Runtime, ExecuTorch, and Qualcomm AI Stack SDK.
• Apply knowledge of quantization and performance optimization to improve latency, throughput, memory usage, and power efficiency.
• Work at the forefront of Generative AI, understanding advanced algorithms such as attention mechanisms, Mixture-of-Experts (MoE), Low Rank Adapter (LoRA), and emerging inference optimization techniques (e.g., Speculative Decoding).
• Collaborate with ML Research teams to prototype and productize new features and techniques into SDK solutions.
• Debug complex issues across models, runtime, OS, compiler, and hardware layers, working closely with QA and customer teams.
• Design, implement, and deliver new features and enhancements to the Qualcomm AI Stack SDK.
• Participate in design reviews and code reviews, ensuring software quality and maintainability.
• Mentor junior engineers, helping them prioritize work and drive execution across multiple initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field and 4+ years of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.
• OR Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field and 3+ years of related work experience.
• OR PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field and 2+ years of related work experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a related field and 6+ years (Staff) / 8+ years (Sr. Staff) of experience in software design, development, and delivery.
• OR Master’s degree/PhD in computer science, computer engineering, or a related field and 5+ years (Staff) / 7+ years (Sr. Staff) of experience in software design, development, and delivery.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience in AI/ML software development, with a focus on inference or model optimization.
• Strong understanding of AI/ML fundamentals, including deep learning and inference pipelines.
• Deep understanding of transformer architectures, attention mechanisms, and performance tradeoffs.
• Proficiency in Python and C/C++ for production-quality software development.
• Experience working with PyTorch and ONNX models and tooling.
• Debugging skills for complex issues, root cause analysis, and ensuring high system reliability.
• Ability to work independently, collaborate across teams, and drive complex features end-to-end.

Skills

• Working knowledge of graph theory, graph optimizations, and compiler-style transformations.
• Experience with LLM, LVM, and LMM inference pipelines, including prefill and generation workflows.
• Familiarity with Hugging Face ecosystem, including model repositories and interfaces such as PEFT.
• Experience with LoRA, MoE-based models, and awareness of modern GenAI inference techniques.
• Experience with Android and/or RTOS environments (e.g., QNX).
• Experience with CMake-based build environments, agile software development practices, and git-based SCM.
• 2+ years of experience in embedded software or system-level software development and optimization.
• At least 2 years of experience interacting with senior leadership (Director level and above).
• Ability to collaborate across a globally diverse team and manage multiple priorities.
• Previous experience mentoring junior engineers.
• User-level or development experience with Qualcomm AI Stack / SDKs (e.g., QAIRT, QNN, Genie).
• Exposure to Snapdragon SoCs and AI accelerators such as NPU.
• Prior hands-on experience with GenAI features such as transformer architectures, LoRA, MoE, speculative decoding, and vision encoder/decoder models.

Pay

$158,400.00 - $237,600.00

Benefits

• Competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales-incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus).
• Comprehensive benefits package designed to support success at work, at home, and at play.