Q

Qualcomm

Designs mobile chips and licenses wireless patents

Positioning Engine Software Engineer

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/24/2026
$134.5k - $201.7k+ Annual discretionary bonus + Annual RSU grants
Junior
Bachelor's, Master's, PhD
Santa Clara, CA, USA
In Person
Software EngineeringEmbedded Engineering
Company Historically Provides H1B Sponsorship

About the job

Requirements
  • A Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field and at least 2 years of Software Engineering or related work experience; or a Master's degree in those fields and at least 1 year of related experience; or a PhD in those fields.
  • At least 2 years of academic or work experience with a programming language such as C, C++, Java, or Python.
  • Strong understanding of GNSS positioning fundamentals, navigation algorithms, and PVT estimation.
  • Experience with Weighted Least Squares, Kalman filters, estimation theory, statistical signal processing, or optimization techniques.
  • Experience implementing GNSS positioning and navigation algorithms in embedded or real-time software systems.
  • Understanding of GNSS measurements and error sources, including pseudorange, Doppler, carrier phase, satellite clock and orbit errors, ionosphere, troposphere, multipath, and receiver measurement errors.
  • Experience with GNSS/INS integration and multi-sensor fusion.
  • Familiarity with GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS, and multi-frequency GNSS.
  • Experience with robust estimation, measurement weighting, outlier rejection, integrity monitoring, and fault detection techniques.
  • Knowledge of RTK, PPP, carrier-phase positioning, or other precise positioning technologies.
  • Understanding of navigation filter tuning, covariance modeling, uncertainty estimation, and performance characterization.
  • Experience analyzing GNSS logs, measurement data, simulation outputs, and large-scale field-test datasets.
  • Experience with real-time operating systems, multi-threaded software architectures, and ARM-based development and debugging.
  • Experience with debugging and profiling tools such as TRACE32.
  • Experience using MATLAB, Python, or Perl for algorithm development, simulation, automation, and data analysis.
  • Experience optimizing embedded software for computational complexity, memory usage, latency, and power consumption.
  • Ability to understand the end-to-end GNSS receiver and positioning architecture, from measurement generation through the final position solution.
  • Familiarity with Android location architecture, mobile positioning systems, or connected-device location technologies.
  • Strong analytical, debugging, and problem-solving skills and ability to work effectively across software, systems, and test teams.
Responsibilities
  • Design, develop, review, and maintain production-quality GNSS Positioning Engine software in C and C++.
  • Implement and optimize GNSS positioning algorithms, including Weighted Least Squares, Kalman Filtering, and Position/Velocity/Time estimation.
  • Develop algorithms and software to process GNSS measurements, including pseudorange, Doppler, carrier-phase, satellite ephemeris, clock, atmospheric, and other measurement corrections.
  • Develop and optimize GNSS/INS and multi-sensor fusion algorithms using inertial sensors and other positioning technologies.
  • Contribute to advanced positioning technologies, including multi-frequency GNSS, hybrid positioning, sensor-assisted navigation, AI/ML-enhanced positioning solutions, and emerging XR use cases.
  • Work with GNSS systems engineers to translate positioning algorithms and system concepts into efficient, robust, production-quality embedded software.
  • Collaborate with the GNSS Measurement Engine team to consume and process GNSS observables and optimize end-to-end positioning performance.
  • Develop robust algorithms for satellite selection, measurement weighting, outlier detection and rejection, fault detection, integrity monitoring, and positioning error mitigation.
  • Analyze and improve positioning accuracy, availability, robustness, convergence time, and reliability in challenging GNSS environments, including urban canyons, indoor settings, and high-dynamic scenarios.
  • Diagnose and resolve system-level positioning and performance issues using GNSS measurements, logs, simulations, and field-test data.
  • Develop software within a real-time, multi-threaded embedded architecture, including inter-process communication and multiple software and firmware interfaces.
  • Contribute to software architecture, interface design, design reviews, code reviews, unit testing, and development methodology.
  • Optimize positioning software for CPU/MIPS utilization, memory footprint, latency, and power efficiency.
  • Work with systems, software, firmware, hardware, validation, and product teams to commercialize positioning technologies across Qualcomm platforms.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience using AI-assisted software development tools such as Claude, Codex, or similar technologies for coding, debugging, performance analysis, test automation, and engineering productivity.
  • Experience applying AI/ML techniques to positioning, navigation, or sensor fusion problems.

About the company

Q

Qualcomm

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Qualcomm designs the Snapdragon processors and modems inside many Android phones, and it licenses its wireless patents to device makers around the world. It helped commercialize CDMA, the cellular technology behind 3G networks, and its patents cover core parts of the 4G and 5G standards that phones use to connect. The company does not run its own chip factories; contract foundries make its chips, which it sells to makers of phones, PCs, cars, and connected devices. Device makers also pay Qualcomm royalties for using its patented technology, which forms a second business alongside chip sales. Qualcomm was founded in 1985 and is based in San Diego, California.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

San Diego, California

Founded

1985

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Cars are a second engine: automotive chip revenue rose 61% to $1.59 billion in the June 2026 quarter.
  • Pays for learning: Qualcomm funds tuition assistance and apprenticeships and sells staff discounted shares through a stock purchase plan.
  • Profits support stability: Qualcomm earned $2.21 non-GAAP per share in the June 2026 quarter despite a 4% sales dip.

What critics are saying

  • Apple is walking away: Qualcomm expects Apple revenue to fall about 50% from the September to December 2026 quarter.
  • Data-center deals start thin: in July 2026, management said custom chips will cut chip gross margin 1.5 to 2 points.
  • Cuts keep trickling: Qualcomm filed WARN notices in April 2026 covering 144 layoffs, including 68 in San Diego.

What makes Qualcomm unique

  • Phones are only part of it: handsets were $5.09 billion of $8.50 billion chip revenue in fiscal Q3 2026.
  • Cloud giants buy its custom chips: two hyperscaler design wins start producing revenue in the December 2026 quarter.
  • It owns an AI software layer: Qualcomm completed its Modular acquisition in July 2026 for open generative AI software.

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Benefits

  • Premium-free health coverage
  • Onsite health & fitness centers
  • Retirement programs
  • Disability & life insurance programs
  • Tuition reimbursement
  • Product discounts
  • Flexible time off
  • Parental leave

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

3%

1 year growth

1%

2 year growth

0%
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Qualcomm buys RISC-V startup Akeana, a Samsung foundry partner, to boost AI chip push

Qualcomm has acquired Akeana, a US semiconductor startup that designs processors using the open-source RISC-V architecture. The deal will help Qualcomm expand in AI and data centres. Financial terms were not disclosed. Akeana's founder and chief executive officer, Rabin Sugumar, confirmed the news on LinkedIn. Its team will join Qualcomm, and Sugumar becomes vice president of engineering. Founded in 2021 by former Marvell server chip engineers, Akeana raised more than $100 million in August 2024 from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, and Fidelity. It also worked with Samsung Foundry on server chips built on a 4-nanometre process. In December 2025, they completed the design of a test chip called Alpine.

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