Sr. Staff Engineer / Principal Robotics SLAM and Positioning Lead

Company: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Job Area: Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Multimedia Systems General Summary: **Hiring in San Diego and Santa ClaraQualcomm’s Advanced Robotics team is building a production-grade, AI-first robotics software platform that scales from AMRs and industrial robots to next-generation humanoids. By pairing heterogeneous compute (CPU/GPU/DSP/NPU) with robust middleware, safety architecture, and cloud integration, we enable customers to deploy intelligent, reliable, and scalable robotic systems across industries. Localization, mapping, and positioning are foundational to this vision—serving as the backbone for autonomy, navigation, manipulation, fleet operations, and system safety. Role Overview As Principal Robotics SLAM and Positioning Lead, you will be the technical owner and architect for Qualcomm’s core localization and mapping services. You will define, build, and evolve a modular, service-oriented SLAM and state estimation stack that operates reliably across diverse robots, sensors, environments, and deployment scales. This role requires deep hands-on expertise in SLAM, sensor fusion, calibration, and system observability, combined with strong architectural judgment and cross-team leadership. You will work closely with robotics middleware, perception, controls, hardware, simulation, and cloud teams to deliver production-ready capabilities that customers can deploy confidently at scale. [Robotics_SLAM_FDD | Word], [Robotics_S...ure_Design | PowerPoint] Key Responsibilities Technical Ownership & Architecture • Own the end-to-end architecture for Qualcomm’s SLAM and positioning services, defining clear service boundaries, APIs, data contracts, and performance envelopes. • Drive the transition from algorithm prototypes to robust, production-grade services suitable for long-running robotic deployments. • Establish design principles for determinism, observability, recoverability, and scalability across on-device and fleet deployments. Core Services Development You will lead the design and implementation of the following foundational services: Calibration Service • Online and offline calibration for cameras, IMUs, LiDARs, and other sensors • Temporal, intrinsic, extrinsic, and drift calibration with validation and health metrics State Estimation / Fusion Service • Real‑time multi‑sensor fusion (VIO/VSLAM/LiDAR‑inertial/GNSS where applicable) • Factor‑graph or filter‑based estimation with bounded latency and fault tolerance Localization Service • High‑accuracy localization against local and global maps • Support for multi‑session, multi‑map, and multi‑floor environments SLAM & Map Management Service • Consistent map generation, update, merging, and lifecycle management • Interfaces for map versioning, distribution, and cloud‑assisted workflows Re‑localization & Recovery Service • Robust handling of tracking loss, kidnaps, sensor dropouts, and degraded conditions • Fast recovery paths with confidence estimation and system signaling Diagnostics & Health Monitoring • Continuous monitoring of localization quality, drift, observability, and sensor health • Exposed metrics, logs, and alerts for fleet‑scale operations and debugging Cross-Functional Leadership • Partner with robotics middleware, controls, perception, and hardware teams to ensure seamless integration with navigation, planning, and manipulation stacks. • Collaborate with simulation and validation teams to define regression suites, KPIs, and benchmarking methodologies. • Influence product roadmaps by translating customer requirements and field learnings into architectural decisions. Quality, Performance & Delivery • Establish SLAM KPIs for accuracy, robustness, latency, and recovery behavior across platforms. • Drive CI/CD practices, test automation, and release readiness criteria for localization services. • Optimize algorithms and pipelines for Qualcomm SoCs using heterogeneous compute efficiently. Minimum Qualifications: • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. OR Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 5+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. OR PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. *Works in the lab, can use hazardous chemicals (e.g., glue, machinery). Preferred Qualifications: • 8+ years of experience developing SLAM, localization, or state estimation systems for real-world robotic or autonomous platforms. • Strong proficiency in C++ with production-grade software engineering practices. • Deep understanding of multi-sensor fusion, calibration, and probabilistic estimation. • Experience delivering systems that run continuously on real robots, not just in research prototypes. • Experience with service-oriented or middleware-centric robotics architectures (e.g., ROS2/DDS-based systems). • Familiarity with map lifecycle management, fleet-scale localization, or cloud-assisted robotics workflows. • Background in diagnostics, observability, or health monitoring for safety-critical systems. • Experience optimizing robotics workloads on embedded or heterogeneous compute platforms. • Track record of technical leadership influencing architecture across multiple teams. Why You’ll Love This Role • Own one of the most critical technical pillars of Qualcomm’s robotics platform. • Work on challenging, real-world autonomy problems at scale. • Influence how SLAM and positioning are productized for the next generation of robots. • Collaborate with experts across AI, systems, silicon, and robotics. • Competitive compensation, growth opportunities, and the chance to shape the future of physical AI. Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation during the application/hiring process, rest assured that Qualcomm is committed to providing an accessible process. You may e-mail disability-accomodations@qualcomm.com or call Qualcomm's toll-free number found here. Upon request, Qualcomm will provide reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities to be able participate in the hiring process. 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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: $198,600.00 - $297,800.00 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.