Firmware Engineer

Company:

Qualcomm Canada ULC

Job Area:

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering

General Summary:

As a leading technology innovator, Qualcomm pushes the boundaries of what's possible to enable next-generation experiences and drives digital transformation to help create a smarter, connected future for all. As a Qualcomm Software Engineer, you will design, develop, create, modify, and validate embedded and cloud edge software, applications, and/or specialized utility programs that launch cutting-edge, world class products that meet and exceed customer needs. Qualcomm Software Engineers collaborate with systems, hardware, architecture, test engineers, and other teams to design system-level software solutions and obtain information on performance requirements and interfaces.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 5+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• 3+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.

We’re building the world’s most advanced SerDes PHY for use in AI data centers and beyond. The Embedded Software / Firmware Team at Qualcomm develops critical embedded software that powers high-performance multi-standard Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) PHY IP used in next-generation data center, AI/ML, automotive, and compute applications. Our SerDes IPs support standards such as PCIe, Ethernet, CXL, and are integrated into SoCs, ASICs, and chiplets built by leading semiconductor companies around the world.

The firmware team owns the full embedded software stack that controls the SerDes hardware, including low-level embedded firmware, customer-facing C SDKs, demo & automation scripts, and interactive tools. As a key enabler of silicon bring-up, validation, and production deployment, we work closely with hardware, systems, DV, validation, and application teams across the product lifecycle—from early development to high-volume manufacturing.

We are looking for an experienced Firmware Engineer to lead firmware architecture, development, integration, and bring-up for our SerDes PHY portfolio. The ideal candidate has driven firmware definition, architecture, and development starting from the RTL/digital design phase with EDA tool/simulator integration, all the way through to the post-silicon phase with device-level bring-up and debug. This is a highly collaborative role: you will work with hardware, systems, and software teams to drive requirements and successful chip bring-up; with firmware and embedded software engineers to drive code re-use across the organization; and with program managers to identify and meet deadlines. This individual will be instrumental in building next-generation SERDES PHY IP and semiconductors that meet Qualcomm’s high performance and quality standards.

Core responsibilities for the firmware team include:

• Embedded firmware running on RISC-V-based controllers that manage Qualcomm’s advanced SerDes datapaths
• Python and C SDKs provided to internal SoC teams and external customers for SerDes bring-up, calibration, tuning, and diagnostics
• Python-based lab tools and GUIs for interactive debug, register access, and validation
• Build, regression, and CI infrastructure to ensure code quality and full coverage.

You’ll play a key leadership role in delivering robust, production-quality firmware for SerDes PHY IP. You’ll help define architecture, drive features end-to-end, coordinate across cross-functional teams, and directly influence the design and usability of Qualcomm’s designs.

In this position, you will be:

• Technical or project lead for SerDes firmware on a major IP program, working with a team (2–8 engineers) through planning, development, validation, and customer delivery
• Owning the entire firmware lifecycle for SerDes PHY, from pre-silicon design through post-silicon validation and optimization
• Gathering requirements, studying high-level designs, developing device interface functions, and turning small building blocks into higher-level firmware system design &l