Staff Engineer, Linux Device Drivers - San Diego, California, United States of America
$134,800 - $202,200 USD yearly
Originally posted 29 March 2026 by the employer.
Develop Linux kernel drivers for QCR-100 accelerators, handling PCIe setup, firmware loading, MHI bus, and DMA transfers.
About the role
The Qualcomm Cloud AI team is seeking a Linux device driver engineer to develop and extend kernel driver software for QCR-100 and related accelerators. The work targets PCIe device setup, firmware loading, MHI bus, DMABUF importation, and DMA transfers for image reprocessing and AI workloads.
What you'll do
- Develop and extend Linux kernel driver code for PCIe device setup, firmware loading, MHI bus, DMABUF importation, and DMA transfers. - Implement low-level code and tests in C within a structured software development environment. - Interface with SoC subsystems, including bus subsystems, DMA, PCIe, peripherals, and synchronization mechanisms. - Utilize sysfs, kernel modules, and low-level debugging techniques to resolve driver and hardware interaction issues. - Manage source code changes and collaboration using git.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field with 4+ years of Software Engineering experience (or Master's with 3+ years, or PhD with 2+ years). - 2+ years of work experience with programming languages such as C, C++, Java, or Python. - Demonstrated experience with Linux kernel driver development, kernel modules, sysfs, and debugging techniques. - Experience with development in C. - Experience with git.
Nice to have
- 4 years of relevant experience. - Experience with the Linux kernel PCIe stack. - Experience with DKMS-based management of kernel modules and DEB or RPM packaging. - TCP/IP understanding including MTU, IP addressing, DHCP, and kernel networking/netdev. - Strong understanding of DMA and IOMMU. - Experience with 'SoC-as-a-Device' architectures or embedded Linux systems connected via PCIe.
Skills: Linux Device Drivers, Software Engineering, Programming Language C, C++, Java, Python
This role has been open 200 days — well above the 126-day median for Embedded Firmware Engineering roles.
Embedded Firmware Engineering · Hardware Security
|
Open roles in category
26
|
Median days open
126 d
|
Median salary
—
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (26 roles · 10 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 8 | 26 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 735 | 6250 · 144 employers |
| Median days open | 200 d | 126 d (+74 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | — |
Skills observed across this category: Linux Device Drivers, Software Engineering, Programming Language C, C++, Java, Python
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 8 open roles · median 199 d
- NVIDIA · 3 open roles · median 67 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 3 open roles · median 19 d
- STMicroelectronics · 3 open roles · median 39 d
- Alif Semiconductor · 2 open roles · median 121 d
- Ambiq Micro · 2 open roles · median 94 d
How we counted: 26 open Embedded Firmware Engineering (Hardware Security) roles from 10 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 25 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.
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