Staff Linux Software Engineer (Multiple Locations) - San Diego, California, United States of America
$134,800 - $202,200 USD yearly
Originally posted 27 July 2026 by the employer.
This role focuses on host-side software for Qualcomm’s high-performance inference accelerators.
About the role
This role is for a Staff Software Engineer to lead development of Linux-based system software, focusing on host-side software, drivers, and system integration for high-performance inference accelerators.
What you'll do
- Design, implement, and optimize Linux user-space and kernel-adjacent drivers and libraries in C++.
- Lead development of host software stacks supporting high-performance AI inference and secure compute workloads.
- Drive API design, multi-threaded systems, and scalable software architectures.
- Own feature development, integration, and bring-up across hardware and software boundaries.
- Architect and develop unit, integration, and system-level tests for CI environments.
- Debug complex host-side issues including boot flows, PCIe link behavior, log transfer, and overflow handling.
What you'll need
- Extensive experience with Linux system software development in C/C++.
- Strong background in Linux user-space development, API design, and multi-threading / synchronization.
- Solid understanding of Linux internals, kernel concepts, drivers, and system bring-up.
- Experience with UML, OO design, and large-scale software architecture.
- Strong knowledge of SoC architecture (cores, caches, memory hierarchy, interconnects, I/O).
- Experience with source code and configuration management (git required).
Nice to have
- Familiarity with virtualization and container technologies (KVM, Docker, SR-IOV).
- Experience optimizing AI/ML inference workloads on system software stacks.
- Proficiency in Python for tooling, testing, or automation.
- Experience with C/C++ unit testing frameworks (e.g., gtest).
- Exposure to cloud technologies, middleware, and protocols.
- Working knowledge of PCIe 3.0.
- Linux kernel development experience.
- Contributions to open-source kernel or confidential computing projects.
Skills: Linux user-space, kernel-adjacent drivers, high-performance AI inference, system bring-up, PCIe
This role has been open 82 days — well above the 60-day median for Systems Software Engineering roles.
Systems Software Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
682
|
Median days open
60 d
|
Median salary
$213k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (682 roles · 71 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 169 | 682 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 705 | 6118 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 79 d | 60 d (+19 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $213k |
Skills observed across this category: Linux user-space, kernel-adjacent drivers, high-performance AI inference, system bring-up, PCIe
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 169 open roles · median 79 d
- NVIDIA · 130 open roles · median 46 d
- AMD · 63 open roles · median 52 d
- Mobileye · 27 open roles · median 73 d
- Broadcom · 22 open roles · median 54 d
- Arm Holdings · 20 open roles · median 115 d
How we counted: 682 open Systems Software Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 71 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 18 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.