Senior Director, AI Technology & Manufacturing - Hardware Engineering

Company:

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area:

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Hardware Engineering

General Summary:

Qualcomm is seeking a Sr. Director, AI Technology & Manufacturing to support the expansion of Qualcomm’s technology and manufacturing agenda within “GMTO” (Global Manufacturing Technology and Operations). This leader will help build and scale the technologies, manufacturing capabilities, supply ecosystem, and operating model required to support Qualcomm's expansion into new markets.

The Sr. Director will bring together currently distributed efforts across system-technology co-optimization (STCO), QCM, test, manufacturing, and supplier enablement into one integrated, funded and executable roadmap spanning silicon, packaging, substrates, memory, power, thermal management, test, and system development. 

This is a highly cross-functional leadership role requiring deep semiconductor expertise, strong business judgment, and the ability to lead across GMTO, the Datacenter and Automotive Business Units, Design, Supply Chain, Finance, and external manufacturing and technology partners. 

This role will report directly to the GMTO lead, and will work very closely with executive general managers for business from the Data Center to Automotive to Physical AI and Robotics. 

Principal Duties & Responsibilities

AI Technology Operations & Manufacturing Strategy

• Lead Qualcomm's datacenter and  module technology and manufacturing agenda within GMTO across test, packaging, substrates, memory, power, thermal and system development.
• Develop and own an integrated STCO roadmap across silicon, package, power and thermal, aligned with the Datacenter, Automotive and Physical AI BU's 3 to 4-year product plans.
• Translate long-range business unit requirements into actionable technology, manufacturing, capacity and capability plans
• Drive qualification through scale for key datacenter technologies, including QCM/HBM, EMIB, SI/PI and thermal. 

Manufacturing & Supply Assurance

• Drive execution to secure required capacity across advanced-node wafer, substrates, OSAT/CM and memory, including CY27+ supplier capacity agreements.
• Execute supply-chain assurance investment across memory, OSAT/test and substrates, with strong capital and cost discipline.
• Build effective relationships across the foundry, OSAT, substrate and memory supplier ecosystem and support executive-level supplier engagements. 

Datacenter and Automotive Test & Technology Capability

• Lead the stand-up and scaling of Qualcomm's datacenter test capability, including the planned deployment of hardware engineers across various Qualcomm sites.
• Establish robust strategies for burn-in, system-level test and thermal management appropriate for server-class products.
• Ensure technology and manufacturing readiness through qualification and volume ramp. 

Cross-Functional Leadership & Operating Model

• Create strong alignment and clear operating interfaces across GMTO, Datacenter BU and Qualcomm Engineering organizations.
• Establish clear accountability and decision-making mechanisms across technology roadmap, technical qualification, supplier selection and make-versus-buy decisions.
• Build a sustainable joint planning cadence with the Datacenter and automotive Business units that connects near-term GMTO execution with longer-term product requirements.
• Lead through a matrixed organization across Qualcomm, supported by a small direct core team. 

While there is a strong preference for this position to be based in San Diego, CA alternative locations within the U.S. can be considered for the successful candidate.

Travel requirement will be approximately 60-70%.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 10+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 9+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering, or related field and 8+ years of Hardware Engineering or related work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 8+ years of leadership experience in Data Center Industry, semiconductor development, test and manufacturing, including leadership at the Director level.

• Knowledge of datacenter customer requirements and rack-scale infrastructure.

• Demonstrated experience delivering complex server-class systems from concept through volume production.

• Deep understanding of semiconductor product development and manufacturing environments. 

• Established relationships across foundry, OSAT, substrate and memory suppliers, including experience with multi-year capacity negotiations. 
• Technical expertise in areas such as burn-in, system-level test, thermal management, advanced packaging and server-class manufacturing. 

Leadership Competencies

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Enterprise and cross-functional leadership: Ability to mobilize teams and drive outcomes across organizational boundaries.

• Technical depth: Strong semiconductor and manufacturing knowledge combined with the ability to communicate effectively at executive level.

• Strategic execution: Ability to translate complex, multi-year technology requirements into executable roadmaps and near-term decisions.

• Capital and cost discipline: Focus on business outcomes and capacity secured relative to capital committed.

• Capability building: Demonstrated ability to establish and scale new technical and operational capabilities in fast-moving environments.

• Influence in a matrix: Ability to create alignment and accountability across multiple functions without relying solely on direct organizational authority

Measures of Success

During the first 12 to 18 months, success will include:

• Supply assurance: CY27 datacenter capacity secured through supplier agreements, with declining reliance on allocation obtained through exception.

• Technology readiness: Datacenter test capability operational across four sites, with cost-of-test trending toward the lower end of the 9 to 18% AUC range.

• Manufacturing execution: Strong qualification, yield and quality through product ramp.

• Roadmap integration: One integrated STCO roadmap spanning silicon, package, power and thermal.

• Organizational effectiveness: Reduced escalation volume and cycle time and a sustained joint planning cadence with the Datacenter BU. 

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EEO Employer: Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or any other protected classification.

Qualcomm expects its employees to abide by all applicable policies and procedures, including but not limited to security and other requirements regarding protection of Company confidential information and other confidential and/or proprietary information, to the extent those requirements are permissible under applicable law.

Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:

$251,700.00 - $377,500.00

The above pay scale reflects the broad, minimum to maximum, pay scale for this job code for the location for which it has been posted. Even more importantly, please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Qualcomm.  We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales-incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus).  In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that Qualcomm has to offer – and you can review more details about our US benefits at this link.

If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.