The Principal CPU PPA Pathfinding Engineer at Qualcomm will analyze and define power, performance, and area options for future CPU projects. This role combines deep CPU implementation expertise with competitive analysis to influence early CPU definition and implementation strategy. The engineer will work closely with various teams to establish workload assumptions and translate CPU power-performance curves into actionable recommendations. This position is critical for shaping the technical direction of next-generation Qualcomm CPUs.

• 15+ years of relevant industry experience in CPU or high-performance ASIC/SoC implementation.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of relevant work experience, or a Master's degree with 7+ years, or a PhD with 6+ years.
• Strong hands-on implementation background, including physical synthesis, floorplanning, place and route, and power analysis.
• Demonstrated experience evaluating and optimizing power, performance, and area for high-frequency CPU cores.
• Proficiency in scripting and automation using Python, Tcl, Perl, or similar languages.

• Lead CPU PPA pathfinding studies for future projects from early concept exploration through implementation feasibility assessment.
• Define and compare PPA options across various CPU design parameters.
• Build representative implementation experiments to quantify trade-offs and identify optimization opportunities.
• Generate area and power estimates and complete power-performance curves across representative CPU workloads.
• Partner with various teams to establish workload assumptions and translate CPU power-performance curves into sustained product-level performance projections.
• Drive data quality and consistent PPA evaluation methodologies across projects.
• Mentor engineers and contribute to scalable PPA analysis flows and best practices.
• Own competitive CPU PPA analysis across relevant market segments and identify competitive gaps and opportunities.

• Qualcomm offers competitive compensation, annual bonuses, stock programs, comprehensive healthcare coverage, retirement plans, wellness programs, parental leave, flexible work options, and professional development opportunities.