Principal CPU Power Modeling Engineer (San Diego, CA)
$211,900 - $317,900 USD yearly
Originally posted 10 June 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As a Principal CPU Power Modeling Engineer, you will define and drive the strategy, methodology, and execution of CPU power modeling across product segments including Mobile, Compute, and XR/VR. You will lead benchmark-driven and workload-based power modeling frameworks to influence CPU microarchitecture and product-level power optimization.
What you'll do
- Define and lead CPU power modeling strategy across business units. - Develop benchmark-driven and workload-based power models. - Collaborate with software and product teams to define real-world workloads and use cases. - Analyze power across real-world scenarios and generate power-performance trade-off curves. - Lead pre-silicon and post-silicon power correlation efforts. - Mentor engineers and improve power modeling infrastructure.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 8+ years of relevant engineering experience (or Master's with 7+ years, or PhD with 6+ years). - Deep expertise in CPU power modeling and analysis. - Strong understanding of CPU microarchitecture and performance-power trade-offs. - Proven experience in benchmark analysis and workload characterization. - Proficiency in Python, TCL, or Perl.
Nice to have
- Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field. - Experience developing scalable workload-driven power modeling methodologies. - Familiarity with industry-standard CPU benchmarks. - Experience in pre-silicon and post-silicon power correlation. - Exposure to multi-segment product development across Mobile, Compute, and XR/VR.
Skills: power modeling, power correlation, CPU benchmarks, workload-driven, power-performance
This role has been open 135 days — well above the 77-day median for SoC/Chip Architecture roles.
SoC/Chip Architecture · SOC Architecture
|
Open roles in category
473
|
Median days open
77 d
|
Median salary
$238k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (473 roles · 67 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 80 | 473 |
| Open roles in the wider Digital Design & Verification family | 423 | 3322 · 115 employers |
| Median days open | 82 d | 77 d (+5 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $238k |
Skills observed across this category: power modeling, power correlation, CPU benchmarks, workload-driven, power-performance
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 79 open roles · median 86 d
- NVIDIA · 53 open roles · median 72 d
- Apple · 37 open roles · median 15 d
- AMD · 35 open roles · median 72 d
- Arm Holdings · 27 open roles · median 120 d
- Micron Technology · 21 open roles · median 99 d
How we counted: 473 open SoC/Chip Architecture (SOC Architecture) roles from 67 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 23 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.