Drimva

Qualcomm

Principal Hardware Design Engineer (Data Center)

$192K–$289K

San Diego, California · On-site · Principal · Full-time · Posted Oct 26, 2026

Experience
The posting lists 15+ years of Hardware Engineering related work experience under Minimum Requirements. It also lists alternative minimums: Bachelor’s degree and 8+ years, Master’s degree and 7+ years, or PhD and 6+ years of Hardware Engineering experience or related work experience.
Education
Bachelor or Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or related field. Additional minimum qualifications list a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Engineering or related field.

About the job

Leads end-to-end hardware design and production of Qualcomm data center platforms, including AI SoC systems, accelerator cards, servers, and rack-level designs.

What you'll do

  • Lead platform architecture, hardware design, validation, bring-up, integration, and production, coordinating internal teams, ODMs, and manufacturers.
  • Provide technical leadership for signal and power integrity, hardware analysis, design methodologies, validation, and resolution of complex system issues.
  • Lead characterization and debug of AI SoCs and platforms, support post-silicon validation, and collaborate with software and firmware teams to optimize inference workloads.

What they ask for

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
  • 15+ years of Hardware Engineering related work experience, including design, simulation, lab measurement, testing, and technical project leadership.
  • Technical project leadership across the full hardware development lifecycle.
  • Experience with lab measurement and test equipment, including high-bandwidth oscilloscopes, VNA/TDR, BERT, and power analyzers.

Nice to have

  • Hands-on experience delivering AI/ML accelerator, GPU, or high-performance compute cards or servers into data center production.
  • Experience with PCIe Gen5/Gen6, CXL, 112G/224G PAM4 SerDes, high-speed Ethernet, high-current power delivery, memory subsystems, OCP specifications, or rack-scale systems.

Pay

$192,400.00 - $288,600.00 (base salary)

Tools

Qualcomm SoCs, LPDDR, HBM, DDR5, PCIe Gen5/Gen6, CXL, 112G/224G SerDes, Ethernet (400G/800G)

AI focus

Leads hardware bring-up, characterization, and debug of AI SoCs and platforms; supports SoC testing and post-silicon validation; works with software and firmware teams to optimize inference workloads.

Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative

First seen Oct 28, 2026 · Last verified Nov 5, 2026 (UTC)