Qualcomm
SoC Performance Architect (Server CPU) - PhD New Grads Welcome!
$148K–$222K
Santa Clara, California +3 · On-site · Entry level · Full-time · Posted Sep 24, 2026
- Location
- Santa Clara, California
Austin, Texas
Hillsboro, Oregon
San Diego, California - Experience
- Minimum qualifications list 2+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience with a bachelor's degree, 1+ year with a master's degree, or a PhD; also 2+ years in one or more system architecture technology areas and products. The role description welcomes PhD new graduates.
- Education
- PhD in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field; minimum qualifications also list bachelor's or master's degree alternatives in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
About the job
Leads analysis, modeling, and optimization of server CPU workload performance across hardware and software to inform SoC product decisions.
What you'll do
- Analyze workloads, profile performance, and identify bottlenecks across CPU, memory, interconnect, and I/O.
- Build performance models, conduct sensitivity studies, and project performance for internal products and competitors.
- Prioritize optimization opportunities and communicate recommendations across engineering and stakeholder teams.
What they ask for
- PhD in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field; the posting also lists bachelor's plus 2+ years or master's plus 1+ year alternatives.
- Deep understanding of CPU microarchitecture and SoC architecture.
- Understanding of OS and compiler behavior and hands-on experience with performance analysis and profiling tools.
- Experience debugging complex server workloads in Linux and strong scripting and data analysis skills.
Nice to have
- Experience with pre-silicon performance modeling, simulation, or trace-based analysis.
- Familiarity with PMU-based top-down analysis, CPI decomposition, memory subsystem analysis, and sensitivity modeling.
Pay
$147,900.00 - $221,900.00 USD base salary
Tools
Linux, PMU
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative