Embedded Real Time Operating System Staff Software Engineer (QuRT OS, Zephyr)
$160,200 - $240,200 USD yearly
Originally posted 16 October 2026 by the employer.
This role is focused on technical leadership, stewardship, and upstream engineering within the Zephyr ecosystem.
About the role
As a Staff Engineer on the Core Platform Kernel software team, you will develop and deploy real-time operating system (RTOS) software across multiple subsystems on Qualcomm SoCs, servicing various market segments. This role will help drive Qualcomm's Zephyr strategy and serve as a technical leader for Qualcomm's engagement with the Zephyr ecosystem.
What you'll do
- Design, implement, and maintain RTOS and low-level system software components.
- Own and drive resolution of complex system-level issues involving performance, stability, scalability, and correctness.
- Lead feature development from problem definition through deployment.
- Analyze crash dumps, traces, and logs to perform deep root-cause analysis.
- Serve as a maintainer or technical owner for key Zephyr subsystems, drivers, platform infrastructure, or architecture components.
- Lead architecture discussions and influence technical direction within the Zephyr project.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience OR Master's degree and 3+ years OR PhD and 2+ years.
- 2+ years of experience with high-performance microprocessor design.
- Strong hands-on experience with RTOS concepts and low-level system software.
- Professional development experience in C/C++.
- Deep understanding of RTOS fundamentals such as scheduling, interrupts, synchronization, memory management, and multicore systems.
- Experience debugging complex embedded software using logs, traces, crash dumps, and hardware debuggers.
Nice to have
- Experience with Zephyr, QuRT, FreeRTOS, or Linux kernel.
- Prior experience serving as a maintainer, subsystem owner, or technical lead within an open-source project.
- Significant upstream contribution history within Zephyr or similar open-source communities.
- Familiarity with board support packages (BSPs), device drivers, architecture enablement, or kernel development.
- Experience with multicore SoC architectures and embedded processor subsystems.
- Experience with off-target development and simulation environments such as QEMU or ISS platforms.
- Experience with CI and automation systems such as Jenkins or GitHub Actions.
- Experience with safety- or security-related software development practices including ASPICE, ISO 26262, or ISO 21434.
- Experience collaborating across company boundaries in community-driven software development environments.
Skills: RTOS, Zephyr, QuRT OS, low-level system software, embedded systems
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 53-day median for Embedded Firmware Engineering roles.
Embedded Firmware Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
734
|
Median days open
53 d
|
Median salary
$169k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (734 roles · 83 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 119 | 734 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 705 | 6114 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 52 d | 53 d (−1 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $169k |
Skills observed across this category: RTOS, Zephyr, QuRT OS, low-level system software, embedded systems
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 120 open roles · median 54 d
- AMD · 65 open roles · median 35 d
- Micron Technology · 61 open roles · median 85 d
- NVIDIA · 57 open roles · median 59 d
- Lattice Semiconductor · 46 open roles · median 38 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 32 open roles · median 32 d
How we counted: 734 open Embedded Firmware Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 83 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 17 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 Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.