Qualcomm
Sr. Staff / Principal Software Engineer – Linux Kernel & ARM Server Platforms
$190K–$285K
Santa Clara, California +2 · On-site · Senior Staff · Full-time · Posted Sep 17, 2026
- Location
- Santa Clara, California
Austin, Texas
San Diego, California - Experience
- Bachelor’s: 6+ years; master’s: 5+ years; PhD: 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience. Also requires 3+ years with a programming language. Preferred: 12+ years in system/firmware/platform software; 10+ years of Linux kernel development; alternatively, 15+ years building production software stacks for high-performance or datacenter platforms.
- Education
- Bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field.
About the job
Provides system-level technical leadership for Linux kernel, firmware, and platform software on next-generation ARM server platforms, from architecture through production delivery.
What you'll do
- Lead architecture and Linux kernel enablement, including platform drivers, performance optimization, and standards-based interfaces.
- Guide boot, firmware, power and performance management, virtualization, memory, PCIe, and telemetry work across teams.
- Review designs, influence platform roadmaps, and mentor engineers to ensure scalable, production-ready software.
What they ask for
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field and 6+ years of relevant work experience, or master’s degree and 5+ years, or PhD and 4+ years.
- 3+ years of work experience with a programming language such as C, C++, Java, or Python.
Nice to have
- 12+ years in system, firmware, or platform software for high-performance or server-class systems; 10+ years of hands-on Linux kernel development.
- Experience with production server SoCs or hyperscale platforms, ARM or platform standards, and hyperscaler or large datacenter customers.
Pay
$190,200.00 - $285,400.00 (base salary)
Tools
Linux kernel, C, C++, Java, Python, ACPI, UEFI, PSCI
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