Senior Wireless Software Engineer (5G/6G Protocol Stack) - US-CA-San Diego-5G, United States
$160,110 - $266,840 USD yearly
Originally posted 13 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
The Senior Wireless Software Engineer embeds directly within customer environments as a software developer, systems engineer, and deployment lead to customize, integrate, and ship production software. You will diagnose problems deep within the protocol stack (Layer 1 to Layer 3), modify software, and validate fixes across early customer development cycles.
What you'll do
- Analyze signaling flows, traces, timing behavior, and performance data to isolate failures across protocol stack implementations. - Write and modify application and protocol-stack software, along with supporting customer software and firmware. - Develop and extend Python APIs that customer teams integrate against, and build automation workflows inside customer environments. - Develop, validate, and deploy controlled patches, feature flags, and interim releases under established release processes. - Translate customer field problems into engineering requirements and defects for core R&D and product management teams. - Mentor engineers and provide technical direction on complex deployment engagements.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's or Master's degree (or equivalent) in engineering or a related field with 10+ years of relevant software and systems engineering experience. - Proficiency in C/C++, Python (including API development), and Linux environments. - Experience with embedded or real-time software development and automated testing. - Experience debugging protocol interactions through logs, traces, packet captures, call flows, and timing analysis. - Familiarity with 3GPP specifications and practical standards compliance, interoperability, and implementation behavior. - Experience with design and test instrumentation and test emulation tools.
Nice to have
- Expertise in at least one protocol domain (PHY/L1, MAC/RLC/PDCP and L2, or RRC/NAS and L3), plus working knowledge of adjacent layers and end-to-end 4G, 5G, and 5G-Advanced system behavior.
Skills: software developer, systems engineer, protocol stack, C/C++, Python, Linux
This role has been open 14 days — well below the 67-day median for Systems Software Engineering roles.
Systems Software Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
680
|
Median days open
67 d
|
Median salary
$209k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Keysight Technologies | All employers we track in this specialty (680 roles · 70 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 16 | 680 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 158 | 6292 · 146 employers |
| Median days open | 26 d | 67 d (−41 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $209k |
Skills observed across this category: software developer, systems engineer, protocol stack, C/C++, Python, Linux
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 176 open roles · median 81 d
- NVIDIA · 135 open roles · median 45 d
- AMD · 58 open roles · median 55 d
- Mobileye · 24 open roles · median 86 d
- Arm Holdings · 20 open roles · median 124 d
- Broadcom · 19 open roles · median 63 d
How we counted: 680 open Systems Software Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 70 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 Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.