JOB TITLE: Audio Render Tuning Engineer

LOCATION: Redmond, WA (Onsite)
DURATION: 12 months
PAY RANGE: $75 - $85/hr.

MUST HAVE SKILLS:

- Hands-on DSP tuning on a speaker-type device. This is the single most important requirement. Knowing about these algorithms or having tested them is not sufficient - the candidate must have personally performed the tuning.
- Audio DSP fundamentals. Must understand what equalization, dynamic range compression, limiting, and speaker protection do, how they function, how they are used, and what the trade-offs are.
- Ability to apply and tune existing algorithms on an audio system (an audio systems engineer profile). Writing algorithms from scratch is not required.

NICE TO HAVE SKILLS:

- Direct AR/VR glasses or other head-worn audio device experience.
- Transducer-level characterization and speaker integration experience (T/S parameters, Klippel, impedance, excursion).
- Exposure to embedded audio middleware or firmware-level audio bring-up (Audio Weaver, Qualcomm QACT, ADSP integration).

COMPANY

Our client is a Fortune 500 multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, CA.

POSITION SUMMARY

We are looking for a contingent Audio Render Tuning Engineer to support the research AR glasses audio program. This role focuses on render-path DSP tuning of the speaker system using an internally developed embedded audio processing framework and tuning tools. The successful candidate will be hands-on in the lab, working closely with the Research Audio team to deliver a tuned, shipping-quality speaker experience.

This is an chance to own the audio tuning of a next-generation research AR glasses device end to end. The contractor will work inside the Research organization on Aria 2+,



a data-collection glasses platform used by researchers, and will have a direct, visible impact on how the device sounds. The role offers a rare combination of deep hands-on lab work - anechoic chamber measurement, electroacoustic characterization, subjective listening evaluation - with exposure to an internally developed embedded audio DSP framework and tuning toolchain, supported by the internal tooling teams that build it. The contractor will collaborate closely with hardware, firmware, algorithms, mechanical, optics, and vendor partners, giving broad visibility across a full product development cycle from early samples through multiple hardware build stages. Because the work is research-driven prototyping with the intent of feeding future products, the contractor gets to shape technology at the earliest stage.

SURROUNDING TEAM & KEY PROJECTS

This is an audio hardware team within the Research organization. The team builds prototypes and proof-of-concept hardware to support research work - future ideation and devices that may or may not ultimately appear on the product roadmap, though the intent is that the work eventually feeds into future products. This particular project is well defined: it is the next iteration of Aria Gen 2, a data-collection glasses device that provides to researchers. The CWAM's team designs the hardware,



working within a larger cross-functional group that includes mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, software engineers, and optics engineers. The team owns the audio components specifically - speakers, microphones, and the software and algorithms that process audio data for device features and data collection. The team designs the speaker and works with an external vendor on its implementation, then tests it. This contractor's role is to tune that system: applying software algorithms to optimize sound quality and measuring results against performance indicators.

TYPICAL DAY-TO-DAY IN THE ROLE

- Measure the glasses in an anechoic chamber or lab environment to collect raw performance data.
- Work with the cross-functional team to define or receive performance targets.
- Develop or tune existing software algorithms to adjust the audio output of the speakers, then re-measure and validate against those targets.
- Split time between hands-on lab work and development work at the desk.
- Set up and conduct subjective demos and listening tests with managers and leaders across the audio team and cross-functional teams.
- Work with suppliers on troubleshooting - understanding trade-offs, diagnosing why performance falls short of expectations, and finding ways to extract additional performance.
- Interface regularly with audio software engineers, mechanical engineers, audio hardware engineers, and vendor partners.

RESPONSIBILITIES

- Render DSP Tuning: Perform speaker render-path tuning for research AR glasses using the company's internally developed embedded audio DSP framework and associated MATLAB-based tuning tools.
- Tuning

📌 Audio Render Tuning Engineer (Redmond)
🏢 Ursus
📍 Redmond