Senior Software Application Engineer at Qualcomm
San Diego, CA
$108,300–$162,500from the description
Jul 13, 2026
San Diego, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role centers on diagnosing and optimizing power, performance, and thermal behavior on Qualcomm IoT and mobile SoC platforms. Day-to-day work involves profiling CPU, GPU, DDR, and DSP components, root-causing system-level issues alongside customers, and building proof-of-concept demos. It suits engineers with embedded systems experience, strong C/C++ skills, and comfort working directly with external customers on technical problem-solving.
Mid level · 2+ years · National · Bachelor's required · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $138,970 (middle half $107,524–$175,762). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
The role is a hybrid of software development and customer-facing technical support/field application engineering. The primary day-to-day work (debugging, profiling, developing proof-of-concept demos, developing tooling) maps most closely to Software Developers (15-1252); Computer Systems Analysts (15-1211) is a plausible runner-up given the customer-facing, issue-resolution, and technical-presentation duties.
Location is not specified in the posting — Qualcomm's primary US engineering hub is San Diego, CA, but no city is stated, so the CBSA is left blank.
The minimum qualification allows a Bachelor's + 2 years OR a Master's + 1 year OR a PhD with no experience. 'Bachelors' is set as the degree requirement because it is the lowest stated formal degree gate; equivalent experience is not offered as a substitute.
The programming language requirement (C, C++, Java, Python, etc.) is stated as 'any combination' of these — C is listed as the primary with the others as alternatives. The 1-year figure covers academic and/or work experience combined.
All preferred qualifications (C++, Android, Linux kernel, ARM, SoC architecture, embedded systems, BSP, power/performance/thermal analysis) appear under the 'Preferred Qualifications' heading and are not hard gates.
Compensation is stated as an annual pay range of $108,300–$162,500, plus an annual discretionary bonus and RSU grants.
Ignored 2 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): ARM architecture, SoC architecture.
Read the full posting
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