Full-Time
Lead Product Designer/Mechanical Engineer
SubPac
11-50 employees
Wearable audio tech delivering bass vibrations
No salary listed
Palo Alto, CA, USA
In Person
Travel to Asia is required.
Bachelor's, Master's
 Mechanical Engineering (1) |
|---|
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- At least 5 years of product development experience, including bringing consumer electronics products from concept through mass production.
- A Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent qualification.
- Advanced knowledge of computer-aided design solid modeling, cosmetic surfacing, and tolerance stackups.
- Experience evaluating and selecting vendors.
- Willingness to travel to Asia.
- Implement product vision through detailed part and assembly design, analysis, and functional validation using design-for-excellence principles and engineering best practices.
- Interface with industrial design, electrical engineering, research and development, operations, and management teams to meet or exceed new product introduction targets for next-generation products.
- Work with Asian manufacturing partners and lead tooling and fixture development, validation, and engineering validation, design validation, and production validation stages, as well as manufacturing and quality assurance.
- Design products involving complex interactions among thermal, vibrational, and acoustic characteristics.
- Perform hands-on engineering and problem-solving across multiple projects with aggressive schedules and development cycles.
- Use written, verbal, and visual communication to collaborate with team members and achieve project goals.
- Create and maintain process documentation and update the parts library and product lifecycle management system.
- Experience with human factors and ergonomics.
- Experience with soft goods or accessories.
- Experience with Creo.
- Experience negotiating manufacturer service agreements.
- A passion for music.
Subpac designs wearable audio hardware that lets users physically feel bass frequencies to deepen their listening experience. Its flagship product, the Subpac X1, is a vest-like or backpack-style device that rests against the body and converts audio signals into vibrations you can feel, typically routed through the C1 Box and a companion app. This makes bass and low-end content tangible beyond traditional speakers or headphones. The system pairs with existing audio sources and software so creators and music lovers can experience immersive sound in a hands-on way. Compared with typical audio gear, Subpac emphasizes tactile feedback as a core feature and offers a complete ecosystem (hardware, a control box, and an app) sold directly to professionals and consumers, with limited-release drops that create urgency. Its goal is to change how people relate to sound by enabling physical sensation from music, with potential benefits for emotional, physical, and mental well-being.
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$6M
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California
Founded
2013
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See people who can refer or advise you
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Subpac posted Phase 3 reservations in July 2026, showing continued customer interest.
- The 2026 Subpac Automotive site keeps JLR visible, supporting premium-car licensing opportunities.
- Subpac’s limited-run model creates scarcity pricing and inventory discipline for a cash-constrained hardware business.
What critics are saying
- Subpac’s 2026 website still sells reservations, signaling tiny volume and weak repeat demand.
- The company relies on a single hardware category; a failed X1 cycle crushes revenue.
- Sony, Apple, and automotive OEMs can integrate competing haptics, commoditizing Subpac by 2027.
What makes SubPac unique
- Subpac’s X1 translates bass into body vibrations, not speaker-only playback, per 2026 site.
- JLR’s 2023 Body and Soul Seat used Subpac tactile audio in Range Rover Sport.
- Subpac targets creators and automotive, where tactile monitoring is harder to replicate than headphones.
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Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -8%1 year growth
↓ -15%2 year growth
↓ -8%JLR and tactile audio industry leaders SUBPAC, who are used by the world's top recording artists, collaborated with staff and students from the National Transport Design Centre and the School of Media and Performing Arts at Coventry University to develop the Body and Soul Seat (BASS).
SUBPAC joins forces with JLR for first-of-its-kind Body and Soul Seat (BASS)in New Range Rover Sport SV EDITION ONELOS ANGELES, May 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SUBPAC , the industry-leading tactile audio company that brings reference-quality low frequency monitoring solutions to audio production, has partnered with modern luxury automotive business JLR for the company's first venture in taking the studio to the street. SUBPAC has continually pushed the boundaries in music production by creating the most advanced studio-grade solutions used by some of music's top creators. Now, SUBPAC technology is incorporated into the New Range Rover Sport SV EDITION ONE's Body and Soul Seat (BASS) system, a high-fidelity, tactile audio experience, complete with wellness benefits.New Range Rover Sport SV EDITION ONE’s Body and Soul Seat (BASS) system by SUBPACTogether SUBPAC and JLR are revolutionizing the in-vehicle audio experience with a whole new approach to sound, allowing front-seat occupants to actually feel the music. The new Body and Soul Seat (BASS) incorporates SUBPAC's AI optimizing software. This technology, coupled with transducers and membranes, delivers high fidelity audio vibrations directly to the driver and passengers. New Range Rover Sport SV's Body and Soul Seat revolutionizes the way in-car media is experienced
SUBPAC, Inc. has won NAMM Tec awards and CES Innovation awards along with 10 others and there are very few companies globally who have been innovative in both of these worlds.
SubPac, Inc. is excited to announce its newest Immersed Digital event: Sound Environment.
Subpac, the maker of wearable, haptic subs, has teamed up with audio software company Sonarworks to integrate the latter’s SoundID Reference into Subpac products.