Software Engineer - WLAN

Company Qualcomm Atheros, Inc. Job Area Engineering Group, Engineering Group >
Software Engineering General Summary We are seeking an experienced WLAN Firmware Engineer with deep expertise in datapath architecture to design, develop, and optimize high‑performance Wi‑Fi firmware running on embedded processors. The role focuses on Tx/Rx datapath design
, host–firmware interfaces
, buffer/credit management
, and performance‑critical firmware subsystems across next‑generation WLAN standards.

You will work closely with MAC/PHY, host driver, platform, and silicon teams to deliver scalable, low‑latency, and power‑efficient datapath solutions for consumer, enterprise, XR and IoT Wi‑Fi products.

• Work on cutting‑edge WLAN silicon and firmware architectures
  .
• Influence core datapath designs used across multiple product lines.
• Collaborate with industry‑leading experts in wireless systems and embedded software.

• Implement performance‑critical datapath firmware modules in C for embedded RTOS or bare‑metal environments.
• Optimize datapath code for throughput, latency, CPU utilization, and power efficiency
  .
• Drive performance tuning for Wi‑Fi 6/6E/7 features including MU‑MIMO, OFDMA, TWT, and advanced rate control interactions.
• Analyze firmware traces, logs, and statistics to identify datapath bottlenecks.
• Add robust debug, telemetry, and error‑handling hooks for datapath observability.

• Collaborate with host driver teams to align datapath APIs, flow control, and feature offloads.
• Work with MAC/PHY and silicon teams to co‑design firmware‑hardware interactions.
• Support system integration, customer escalations, and field issue triage related to datapath behavior.

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 3+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• 2+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• 5-8+ years of embedded firmware development experience, with significant focus on WLAN or networking datapath.
• Strong proficiency in C, with deep understanding of low‑level memory management and concurrency.
• Hands‑on experience with Tx/Rx datapath design
  , buffer pools, descriptor rings, and DMA‑based architectures.
• Solid understanding of IEEE 802.11 protocols and MAC‑layer data handling.
• Experience working in resource‑constrained, real‑time firmware environments
  .
• Direct experience with Wi‑Fi 6 / 6E / 7 (802.11ax / 11be) datapath features.
• Experience designing high‑throughput, low‑latency firmware datapaths for AP or STA products.
• Strong debugging skills using firmware logs, memory dumps, and trace frameworks.
• Experience mentoring junior engineers or leading architecture reviews.

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 disabili 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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