Senior Director, Handset Technology Product Manager

Qualcomm · San Diego · $237,800–$356,800 (stated in the posting)

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General Summary:

Qualcomm is seeking a highly experienced Director or Senior Director to join the Handset Technology Product Management team to help drive the definition of next-generation mobile experiences across Snapdragon platforms.

This role requires a technical and strategic leader responsible for identifying emerging mobile use cases, translating customer and market needs into actionable technology requirements, and driving alignment across multiple IP and engineering organizations. The successful candidate will work across CPU, GPU, AI/NPU, Camera, Multimedia, Connectivity, Memory, I/O, System Architecture, and Software teams to ensure our technology investments and IP roadmaps create the experiences that matter most to mobile users and OEM partners.

This position requires a rare combination of deep technical expertise, system-level thinking, product strategy, and execution leadership. The ideal candidate has a proven track record of solving complex cross-functional problems, influencing large engineering organizations, and independently driving initiatives from concept through implementation with minimal oversight.

Key Responsibilities

Define Future Mobile Experiences and Technology Direction

• Identify and analyze emerging mobile use cases spanning AI, multimodal experiences, gaming, imaging, content creation, productivity, ambient computing, XR, and next-generation user interfaces.
• Develop a deep understanding of customer and OEM requirements and translate them into long-term platform and IP investment strategies.
• Drive handset technology planning by ensuring architectural decisions support differentiated mobile experiences

Drive Cross-IP Requirements and Architecture Alignment

• Convert complex end-user experiences into measurable technical requirements across multiple technology domains.
• Develop cross-functional requirements that span CPU, GPU, NPU, Camera, Multimedia, Memory, Connectivity, Security, and Software organizations.
• Establish end-to-end usage models, workloads, KPIs, and success criteria that guide engineering execution.
• Identify technology gaps and coordinate solutions across multiple engineering teams and organizations.

Drive Mobile-Focused IP Development

• Partner with architecture, product management, and engineering teams to ensure future IP development is aligned to real-world mobile workloads and customer needs.
• Drive alignment between long-term technology investments and handset product requirements.
• Influence IP roadmaps through quantitative workload analysis, system-level bottleneck identification, and competitive assessments.
• Work with the technology product management and engineering teams to define mobile use cases for early technology planning, architecture reviews, and roadmap development.

Lead Complex Cross-Technology Initiatives

• Define and drive strategic initiatives that require collaboration across multiple engineering disciplines and business units.
• Facilitate technical decision-making among stakeholders with competing priorities.
• Build consensus around architectural tradeoffs, investment priorities, and feature roadmaps.
• Navigate ambiguity and independently drive programs to completion.

Customer and Ecosystem Engagement

• Engage directly with OEMs, ecosystem partners, developers, and internal business leaders to understand future market needs.
• Distill customer feedback into actionable requirements and technology opportunities.
• Serve as a technical representative during executive reviews and strategic customer discussions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical field.
• 15+ years of experience in semiconductor, mobile platform, system architecture, product management, or related fields.
• Deep technical understanding across multiple mobile technology domains including:
  • CPU architecture and performance
  • GPU and gaming technologies
  • AI accelerators and machine learning systems
  • Camera and computational imaging
  • Multimedia and media processing
  • Mobile system architecture
  • Memory and I/O subsystems
  • Power, performance, and thermal optimization
  • Mobile software and operating systems
• Demonstrated success leading large cross-functional initiatives involving multiple engineering organizations.
• Proven ability to define technical requirements that span multiple technology teams and drive execution to completion.
• Strong analytical and systems-thinking capabilities.
• Track record of influencing senior leadership and technical stakeholders without direct authority.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline.
• Advanced business acumen (e.g., MBA or equivalent experience) is highly desirable.
• Experience working directly with mobile OEMs or ecosystem partners.
• Experience influencing semiconductor architecture and IP roadmaps.
• Expertise in mobile AI, agentic systems, computational photography, gaming technologies, or future mobile user experiences.
• Demonstrated success driving technology strategy for complex mobile platforms.
• Experience conducting competitive analysis, workload characterization, or use-case-driven architecture planning.

Minimum Qualifications:

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).

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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:

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.

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