Digital Hardware Engineer, Senior - San Diego, California, United States of America
$129,500 - $194,300 USD yearly
Originally posted 26 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role involves the implementation and verification of complex wireless systems for a Test Base Station (TBS) supporting QCT mobile chipset functionality. Technical focus centers on development for the coming 6GR physical layer and FPGA SOC designs.
What you'll do
- Architect, implement, and verify FPGA/SOC designs. - Translate systems requirements and 3GPP specifications into digital implementations meeting performance requirements. - Develop, document, and achieve product development milestones and deliverables with project leads. - Present design reviews across Systems, RF, SW, and Test engineering teams. - Support the commercialization and hands-on lab bring-up of new hardware and features.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field with 2+ years of hardware/electrical engineering experience (or Master's degree with 1+ year, or PhD). - Experience in FPGA or ASIC design from RTL/HDL through simulation, synthesis, and on-target verification. - Experience with VHDL, Verilog, or System Verilog and associated simulator/synthesis CAD tools. - Experience in HDL Design Verification (DV). - Understanding of high-speed interfaces such as PCIe, Ethernet, or UCIE, and SOC interconnect standards including AXI, AHB, AMBA, Wishbone, JREG, or Avalon. - Experience working within a Linux development environment.
Nice to have
- Experience with common FPGA vendor tool suites. - Knowledge in signal processing, digital communications, and wireless physical layer specifications. - Experience with Python programming, C/C, or Matlab. - Experience with High Level Synthesis (HLS). - Experience with git version control. - Familiarity with embedded software design such as RTOS or embedded Linux. - Familiarity with Agentic AI frameworks and workflows.
Skills: RTL, SystemVerilog, FPGA, ASIC, SoC
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 66-day median for Digital/RTL Design roles.
Digital/RTL Design · RTL Design
|
Open roles in category
1081
|
Median days open
66 d
|
Median salary
$185k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (1081 roles · 104 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 152 | 1081 |
| Open roles in the wider Digital Design & Verification family | 408 | 3359 · 116 employers |
| Median days open | 63 d | 66 d (−3 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $185k |
Skills observed across this category: RTL, SystemVerilog, FPGA, ASIC, SoC
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 158 open roles · median 63 d
- Synopsys · 86 open roles · median 40 d
- AMD · 77 open roles · median 45 d
- Analog Devices · 49 open roles · median 56 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 44 open roles · median 100 d
- NVIDIA · 37 open roles · median 52 d
How we counted: 1081 open Digital/RTL Design (RTL Design) roles from 104 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 27 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Digital Design & Verification family row. Figures refresh nightly.