Principal Engineer/Senior Staff Engineer- CPU Software & Hardware Co-Design Engineer (ML Systems)

Technology, Data & Digital · Software & Web Development · Software Engineering

In short

Qualcomm is seeking a Principal/Senior Staff Engineer for CPU Software & Hardware Co-Design focusing on ML Systems in Bangalore. This role involves optimizing ML workloads on next-generation QMX CPU architectures through characterization, simulation, kernel optimization, and driving architectural insights. The ideal candidate will work across the full stack, from ML models to low-level kernels, to enable efficient execution.

Responsibilities

Identify and prioritize critical ML use cases and models for CPU-centric execution.
Analyze workload characteristics including compute intensity, memory bandwidth, cache behavior, and parallelism.
Generate detailed execution traces for ML workloads using QEMU or equivalent simulators.
Capture instruction-level execution behavior and extract performance counters and bottlenecks.
Identify system bottlenecks across CPU pipelines, memory hierarchy, and instruction utilization.
Optimize critical hotspots through kernel-level tuning, algorithmic improvements, and data layout/memory optimizations.
Collaborate with CPU architecture and design teams to provide data-driven insights and propose architectural enhancements.
Influence next-generation CPU features in compute units, vector/SIMD extensions (e.g., QMX), and memory subsystems.
Design and implement highly optimized ML kernels and libraries for QMX architecture.
Develop kernels for GEMM, convolution, attention, activation functions, etc.
Enable integration with open-source ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, ONNX, XNNPACK, MLAS).
Apply advanced optimizations like SIMD/vectorization, cache-aware execution, and parallel execution strategies.
Optimize CPU-centric ML benchmarks such as Geekbench AI and internal suites.
Establish performance baselines and track improvements across hardware generations.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Software Engineering experience; OR Master's degree and 7+ years; OR PhD and 6+ years.
4+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.
Strong background in Computer Architecture / Systems Programming.
Strong background in Machine Learning fundamentals.
Proficiency in C/C++ (mandatory).
Experience with performance profiling, benchmarking, and optimization.

Desired Qualifications

Experience with QEMU or equivalent simulators.
Experience with ML kernel development (GEMM, convolution, attention).
Knowledge of CPU architecture (pipelines, caching, SIMD/vector extensions such as NEON, SVE, QMX).
Familiarity with ML frameworks and inference stacks.
Experience with low-level optimization: intrinsics, assembly, memory and cache tuning.

Benefits

Work on next-generation CPU architectures (QMX).
Directly influence hardware design through real workload insights.
Solve end-to-end ML performance challenges (model → kernel → silicon).
Collaborate with top architecture, systems, and AI teams.
High-impact role with visibility across product and research roadmaps.

Skills

PythonC++CJavaPyTorchONNXXNNPACKMLAS

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