Senior Research Engineer – Machine Learning, Computer Vision & Graphics (Digital Avatar / XR)

Company:

Qualcomm Semiconductor Limited

Job Area:

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Machine Learning Engineering

General Summary:

Qualcomm's Multimedia R&D and Standards Group is seeking passionate candidates with expertise in Computer Vision and Computer Graphics. The team is developing advanced AI and deep learning algorithms, architectures, and systems for applications enriching the embedded systems for Smartphone and Extended Reality.

The candidate should bring a deep understanding in computer vision and computer graphics, exhibiting excellent analytical and algorithm development skills and proficiency in Python and C/C++ programming. The selected candidate will have responsibilities in the following areas:

Conducting research and enhancing our cutting-edge audio-driven facial animation system. This role involves creating intelligent models that transform speech audio into lifelike character animations, enabling real-time, expressive digital avatars. Examples of key areas include Audio2Pose for generating natural head/body movements and Audio2Expression for creating synchronized facial expressions and lip-sync. The ideal candidate will have expertise in deep learning, computer vision, and 3D graphics, with a passion for pushing the boundaries of digital character animation.

Must have Qualifications

• Master's or PhD degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and/or closely related field.

• 2+ years Software Engineering, Hardware Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.

• 3+ years of professional experience in computer deep learning software development for applications like Computer Vision or Computer Graphics.

• 5+ years of experience developing practical deep learning algorithms using PyTorch, TensorFlow, or other deep learning frameworks.

• Solid Background in Computer Vision or Computer Graphics.

• Knowledge in 3D vision (mesh, texture map, blendshape, Linear Blend Skinning and etc.)

• Solid background in machine/deep learning fundamental knowledges and mathematics.

• Academic publications in computer vision research at top conferences and journals (PAMI, IJCV, NeurIPS, CVPR, ICCV, Siggraph, ICLR, ICML, etc.)

• Proficiency in C/C++, OpenGL, or Python programming.

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent knowledge of C++ and object-oriented programming, capability to design and implement robust, high-performance, and flexible system software.

• Expertise in various networks architectures such as Transformer, Diffusion, Variational Auto-Encoders, U-Nets, etc.

• Experience in 3D head and body reconstruction and synthesis, 3D body shape and pose estimation, and 3D clothes modeling and rendering.

• Experience in software development, incl. testing and debugging on mobile platforms, XR platforms or other embedded systems.

• Experience of deep learning model pruning, compression, and quantization for executing on edge device without performance decreasing.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Track record of driving ideas from design through commercialization.

• Experience in computer vision algorithm design development and integrating machine learning algorithm into camera systems.

• Self-motivated and strong desire to learn new technologies, design novel techniques and propose them for technology commercialization.

• Team Player.

Education Qualifications

• Minimum: Bachelors - Computer Science, Bachelors - Engineering, Bachelors - Information Systems

• Preferred: Masters - Computer Science, Masters - Engineering, Masters - Information Systems

Work Experiences Qualifications

• 2+ years’ experience with one or more programming language suitable for machine learning (e.g., Python, R, C, C++)

• 1+ years of experience with low level interactions between operating systems (e.g., Linux, Android, QNX) and Hardware

• 2+ years’ experience using statistics and probability (e.g., conditional probability, Bayes rule)

• 2+ years’ experience in embedded system development and optimization with application to a specific problem domain in ML (e.g., NLP, multi-media)

• 2+ years’ experience with Machine Learning frameworks (e.g., Tensor Flow, Caffe, Caffe 2, Pytorch, Keras)

• 1+ years of work experience in a role requiring interaction with senior leadership (e.g., Director level and above)

• 2+ years of experience working in a large matrixed organization

Skills

AI Frameworks, Calculus, Data Manipulation, Deep Learning, Computer Vision, Computer Graphics, Machine Learning, Performance Optimization, Python, Statistics.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field and 2+ years of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience. OR Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field and 1+ year of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience. OR PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field.

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. 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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