This role drops the project manager into a strained PMO environment where deadlines stay fixed, staffing does not, and delivery risk lands on the person documenting every dependency before it turns into blame.
Handset decline and diversification pressure
According to Qualcomm’s Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings filings, revenue fell to $10.6 billion, down 3.5% year over year, handset revenue dropped 13% to $6.02 billion, and Q3 guidance called for further compression to $9.2-$10.0 billion. Those same filings and deal disclosures show a $2.4 billion Alphawave acquisition aimed at data center silicon, while the company also authorized a new $20 billion repurchase program. Add April 2026 San Diego layoffs affecting engineering and management, plus employer-review data flagging IT as the highest-churn function under a 5-day return-to-office policy, and the reason this role exists is clear: leadership requires cross-functional programs delivered while resources are cut, priorities shift, and margin discipline tightens.
Cross-functional delivery under thinner capacity
This role owns schedule control, dependency tracking, escalation flow, and execution reporting across engineering, security, infrastructure, and business teams that do not report to the project manager. The role is accountable for keeping enterprise IT work on track even when deadlines were set above them, staffing shifts midstream, and scope pressure rises. The daily mandate: isolate risk early, document ownership clearly, force decisions from stakeholders, and contain slippage before it becomes a leadership issue.
Handoff control and escalation discipline
- Schedule Ownership: Execute and command integrated project plans, milestone maps, and dependency logs for enterprise IT initiatives with clear dates, owners, and escalation triggers.
- Risk Containment: Audit blockers across infrastructure, security, engineering, and business teams, then document mitigation paths before missed handoffs turn into delivery failure.
- Stakeholder Enforcement: Triage status reviews, command follow-up on open actions, and escalate late decisions or resource gaps to leadership with written accountability.
- Execution Reporting: Enforce weekly program updates that translate scope movement, schedule variance, and capacity constraints into decision-ready reporting for senior stakeholders.
Enterprise IT program control baseline
- Project Delivery Tenure: 36 months of IT project management experience covering enterprise systems, infrastructure, security, or internal technology programs with multiple stakeholder groups.
- Tooling Discipline: Working command of project tracking and reporting tools such as Jira, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Confluence, or equivalent systems used for schedule and risk control.
- Communication Precision: Proven ability to write status reports, decision logs, RAID registers, and executive updates that hold ownership lines in politically tense environments.
San Diego part-time compensation under RTO costs
For San Diego, this pay band is the market rate for part-time enterprise IT program coordination at a major semiconductor employer, but the five-day commute requirement cuts into take-home value through time, fuel, and parking friction. The upside is brand strength and exposure to high-stakes internal execution during a period of visible corporate pressure.
- Base Salary Range: $70000 – $95000 USD / Year
- Brand Signal: Qualcomm on the resume carries weight with future employers hiring for enterprise PMO, technical program delivery, and internal transformation work.
- Career Trajectory: This position builds a path toward Senior IT Project Manager, Technical Program Manager, or PMO Lead roles in complex hardware and platform organizations.
Attendance rules and fit check
- The Physical Presence Directive
- Location: San Diego, CA. Status: On-site. This role follows a 5-day in-office attendance expectation at the San Diego campus.
- Relocation Posture
- Relocation support is not the operating priority. The company is preserving margin, managing layoffs, and tightening execution, so this role is locally sourced.
- The Candidate This Role Is Built For
- Ascent-stage project managers use this role to gain harder enterprise delivery exposure and accept constant stakeholder pressure in exchange for stronger execution credibility.
Green Flags
- Advantage: Execution Credential: Eighteen months here signals the candidate holds enterprise programs together inside a semiconductor company during revenue compression, layoffs, and portfolio transition.
- Advantage: Decision Visibility: Because priorities move across automotive, IoT, and data-center work, this role gets direct exposure to senior stakeholders making resource and sequencing calls.
Red Flags
- Warning Sign: Blame Exposure: This role carries delivery accountability without direct authority over engineering, security, infrastructure, or business stakeholders, so missed decisions and thin staffing hits the project manager’s performance record.
- Warning Sign: Churn And Attendance Pressure: April 2026 San Diego layoffs and employer-review data pointing to high IT churn under a 5-day return-to-office model create a brittle operating environment with no slack for schedule recovery.
