General Summary:
Join our CPU Post-Silicon Validation Team working on next-generation processors. This role focuses on validating, characterizing, and optimizing CPU power, performance, PPA, and thermal behavior on real silicon platforms. You will help define validation strategies, create detailed test plans, execute experiments, and analyze silicon data to ensure CPUs meet performance, power, efficiency, and thermal reliability targets across workloads, operating conditions, and product use cases.
Key Responsibilities:
Develop and execute validation strategies and test plans for CPU power, PPA, and thermal features.
Perform post-silicon characterization of CPU dynamic power, leakage power, performance efficiency, and thermal behavior under various workloads and operating conditions.
Analyze CPU PPA tradeoffs across voltage, frequency, workload, temperature, and power-management states.
Characterize CPU power efficiency across different operating points, workloads, and silicon/process corners.
Evaluate thermal behavior, thermal mitigation mechanisms, throttling response, and performance impact under sustained workloads.
Collaborate with architecture, design, firmware, and systems teams to define power, performance, and thermal validation requirements.
Automate workloads, telemetry collection, and data analysis using scripting for reproducible validation.
Debug power, performance, and thermal anomalies using silicon telemetry, logs, lab measurements, and workload profiling.
Provide clear reports, data summaries, and recommendations for firmware, hardware, and system-level tuning.
Required Qualifications & Skills:
3–5 years of experience in CPU post-silicon validation, power/performance characterization, PPA analysis, thermal validation, or related silicon validation roles.
Strong understanding of computer architecture, including CPU cores and execution pipelines, memory hierarchy such as caches, DRAM, and coherency, and I/O subsystems, interconnects, and SoC-level interactions.
Solid understanding of CPU power and performance concepts, including dynamic power, leakage power, voltage/frequency scaling, power states, low-power modes, workload-dependent power behavior, and performance-per-watt analysis.
Familiarity with PPA analysis and optimization across power, performance, area-related tradeoffs, thermal constraints, voltage, frequency, and workload operating points.
Familiarity with thermal management principles, including heat dissipation, thermal sensors and telemetry, thermal throttling and mitigation mechanisms, and sustained workload thermal behavior.
Proficiency in Python, C, and/or C++ for automation, workload control, data collection, and analysis.
Ability to work in a lab environment with instrumentation such as oscilloscopes, power analyzers, thermal sensors, and data acquisition equipment.
Strong analytical, debugging, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to clearly communicate technical findings through reports, plots, and presentations.
Preferred Skills:
Experience with ARM or RISC-V CPU architectures.
Experience with silicon bring-up, CPU telemetry, performance counters, workload profiling, and debug methodologies for power, performance, and thermal issues.
Exposure to thermal simulation tools, power modeling, and PPA analysis flows.
Understanding of energy efficiency optimization, power-management flows, and thermal mitigation strategies.
Familiarity with lab-based CPU characterization, workload automation, and silicon debug flows.
Why Join Us? Work on real silicon shaping the future of computing. Collaborate with world-class architects, design engineers, firmware teams, and system engineers. Opportunity to innovate in CPU power efficiency, PPA optimization, and thermal reliability for advanced SoCs. Build hands-on expertise in post-silicon validation, a critical step in CPU product development.
Where you will be working
Cork has a proud reputation as Ireland's second largest economic engine and is now one of the Top 20 location choices in Europe with 39,000 people being employed by over 170 overseas companies.
There's a growing diversity in the region with people from many nationalities relocating to Cork, relishing the opportunity to work and live in a location that offers an excellent quality of life.
A gateway to Europe, Cork airport provides access to almost 50 international destinations including transatlantic air routes.
Equal Opportunities
We are an Equal Opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any protected classification.
What's on Offer
Apart from working in an open, relaxed and collaborative space, you will enjoy:
Salary, stock and performance related bonus
Maternity/Paternity Leave
Employee stock purchase scheme
Matching pension scheme
Education Assistance
Relocation and immigration support (if needed)
Life, Medical, Income and Travel Insurance
Subsidised memberships for physical and mental well-being
Bicycle purchase scheme
Employee run clubs, including, running, football, chess, badminton + many more
Minimum Qualifications:
*References to a particular number of years experience are for indicative purposes only. Applications from candidates with equivalent experience will be considered, provided that the candidate can demonstrate an ability to fulfill the principal duties of the role and possesses the required competencies.
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. Qualcomm is also committed to making our workplace accessible for individuals with disabilities. (Keep in mind that this email address is used to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. We will not respond here to requests for updates on applications or resume inquiries).
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.
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If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers .
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