Lead Audio ML Engineer

Hark

$120K — $300K *
Consumer Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 3+ years of experience in audio or speech ML models
  • Proficient in PyTorch or TensorFlow and audio deep learning tools
  • Experience deploying models on DSP, NPU, or mobile systems
  • Familiar with the entire ML lifecycle: data, training, evaluation, deployment
  • Strong grasp of audio signal processing and its relation to ML
  • Experience working with engineers on resource-constrained systems

Responsibilities

  • Implement and train audio models for various detection and enhancement tasks
  • Transition models from research to on-device deployment within specific constraints
  • Develop and maintain pipelines for training data and model evaluation
  • Work with DSP and firmware teams to integrate models into products
  • Collaborate with hardware teams to understand operational signal conditions
  • Optimize models for efficiency on various target platforms

Benefits

  • Comprehensive benefits package
  • Collaborative work environment with cross-functional teams
  • Opportunities for professional development and growth
  • Involvement in innovative audio technology projects
  • Work on products that impact consumer experiences
Full Job Description
About the Role

We are looking for an Lead Audio ML Engineer to implement, train, and ship audio models that run on-device across our consumer products. This role spans the full lifecycle of on-device audio intelligence: model design, training, evaluation, and deployment to constrained hardware. You will work alongside our DSP, firmware, and product teams to turn audio model research into production features that ship at scale.

Responsibilities
  • Implement and train audio models for wake-word detection, voice activity detection, source separation, speech enhancement and similar audio
  • Take models from research prototype to on-device deployment within latency, memory, and power budgets
  • Build and maintain training data pipelines, evaluation harnesses, and re-training cadence across model families
  • Partner with DSP and firmware engineers to integrate models into the Hark Audio Engine and DSP runtime
  • Collaborate with hardware and acoustics teams to characterize the signal conditions models must operate under
  • Profile and optimize models on target platforms (DSP, NPU, CPU) and define accuracy and resource budgets per product

Requirements
  • 3+ years of professional experience building and shipping audio or speech ML models
  • Strong fluency in PyTorch or TensorFlow and modern audio deep learning toolchains
  • Hands-on experience deploying models to embedded targets such as DSP, NPU, or mobile NPU and CPU
  • Comfort working across the full ML lifecycle: data, training, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring
  • Solid foundation in audio signal processing concepts and how they intersect with ML pipelines
  • Experience collaborating with DSP, firmware, and hardware engineers on resource-constrained systems

Bonus Qualifications
  • Background shipping voice-first or far-field audio products
  • Experience with on-device wake-word, ASR front-ends, or speech enhancement at production scale
  • Familiarity with model compression techniques such as quantization, pruning, and distillation
  • Familiarity with Qualcomm AI stacks or similar alternatives from other providers
  • Open-source contributions to audio ML projects

Compensation

The US base salary range for this full-time position is between $120,000 and $300,000 annually.

The pay offered for this position may vary based on several individual factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package may also include additional components and benefits depending on the specific role. This information will be shared if an employment offer is extended.

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