Engineer, Senior Staff - Audio Drivers

Company: Qualcomm India Private Limited Job Area: Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering General Summary: The Senior Staff Engineer – Audio is a senior technical leadership role responsible for defining, architecting, and delivering complex audio technologies across platforms and products. This role owns end‑to‑end audio features—from requirements and system design through implementation, optimization, validation, and production support—while influencing technical direction across teams. The individual is expected to work independently with minimal supervision, provide technical leadership to engineers and consultants, and collaborate closely with cross‑functional partners including product management, platform, and customer engineering teams. Key Responsibilities Technical Leadership & Architecture • Own architecture and system‑level design for complex audio features and subsystems across software, DSP, and platform layers (e.g., audio frameworks, HALs, DSP pipelines, audio effects, routing, and performance optimization). • Translate product and use‑case requirements into clear technical designs, HLDs/LLDs, and implementation plans, including APIs, control/data flows, threading models, and timing constraints. • Drive design trade‑offs related to audio quality, latency, power, memory, and system performance. Development & Delivery • Lead implementation of high‑quality, production‑ready audio software and/or DSP components using best‑in‑class engineering practices. • Ensure features are fully validated through unit tests, integration tests, system tests, and customer validation flows before release. • Guide code integration and release into build/test/release pipelines, tracking progress through internal validation and post‑customer support phases. Cross‑Functional Collaboration • Collaborate with product owners and program leads to plan and execute audio roadmaps, milestones, and deliverables. • Partner with platform, DSP, hardware, and system teams to enable end‑to‑end audio solutions across devices and form factors. • Support customer and partner engagements by providing deep technical insight, debugging, and solution guidance when required. Mentorship & Technical Influence • Provide technical mentorship and design guidance to senior, mid‑level, and junior engineers, including consultants and temporary staff. • Lead design and code reviews, driving feedback to closure and raising the overall engineering quality bar. • Influence broader organizational technical decisions by contributing to standards, best practices, and long‑term architectural direction. Required Qualifications • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field. • Significant industry experience in audio software, DSP, multimedia systems, or embedded platforms. • Strong expertise in one or more of the following: • Audio frameworks and pipelines (e.g., Android audio stack, ALSA, ASoC, or equivalent) • DSP audio processing, algorithms, and optimization • Low‑latency, real‑time, and power‑efficient audio systems • Proficiency in systems programming languages such as C/C++ (and scripting languages where applicable). • Proven experience owning complex technical features end‑to‑end with minimal supervision. Preferred Qualifications • Experience with cross‑OS or cross‑platform audio solutions (mobile, automotive, IoT, XR, or embedded systems). • Hands‑on experience with performance profiling, latency analysis, and power optimization for audio workloads. • Prior experience influencing technical direction beyond immediate team scope or acting as a vertical/area owner. • Strong written and verbal communication skills for conveying complex technical concepts to diverse audiences. Role Expectations & Impact • Operates independently and makes technically sound decisions with moderate organizational impact. • Recognized as a go‑to expert for audio technology within the organization. • Errors, if any, are typically detected through established review and validation processes and have limited business impact, though they may require cross‑team coordination to resolve. Minimum Qualifications: • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience. OR Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 5+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience. OR PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience. • 3+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc. Applicants: 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. 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