Audio Firmware Engineer
Hark · San Jose, CA
$120,000–$300,000from the description
Jul 15, 2026
San Jose, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
An embedded audio firmware role focused on bringing up and optimizing audio systems on Android and SoC platforms for consumer hardware. Day-to-day work spans the full stack — from kernel drivers and DSP firmware through Android HAL and framework layers — covering codec integration, audio pipeline tuning, and supporting AI inference workloads such as wake word and speech enhancement. Suits engineers with hands-on experience shipping embedded audio on real products.
Mid level · 3+ years · National · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $138,970 (middle half $107,524–$175,762). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (6)
No work location is specified in the posting; the compensation range is stated as a US base salary, so the role is assumed to be US-based. Remote status is not indicated, so remote=false is used as the conservative default.
The title 'Audio Firmware Engineer' carries no seniority modifier; the title states no level. The 3+ year minimum and scope of responsibilities (board bring-up, full-stack debugging, cross-functional collaboration) are consistent with a Mid-level role on the career ladder.
The compensation range ($120K–$300K) is unusually wide, which the posting itself acknowledges may vary by individual factors. It is reported as stated.
SOC classification is Medium confidence: the role is primarily embedded/firmware software development (15-1252), but the deep DSP and hardware-adjacent nature could also fit 15-1299 (Computer Occupations, All Other), listed as the alt code.
Audio processing algorithm skills (dynamic range control, echo cancellation, noise suppression, beamforming, SIMD/VLIW, fixed-point development) and ML model deployment on embedded/DSP/NPU platforms all appear under the 'Bonus Qualifications' heading and are marked preferred accordingly.
C and C++ are listed together as a single proficiency requirement ('C/C++'); they are emitted as separate skills per extraction rules, each with the other as an alternative, since both are distinct languages commonly used independently in this domain.
Read the full posting
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