Principal Engineer - Acoustics

HARMAN’s engineers and designers are creative, purposeful and agile. As part of this team, you’ll combine your technical expertise with innovative ideas to help drive cutting-edge solutions in the car, enterprise and connected ecosystem. Every day, you will push the boundaries of creative design, and HARMAN is committed to providing you with the opportunities, innovative technologies and resources to build a successful career.

A Career at HARMAN

As a technology leader that is rapidly on the move, HARMAN is filled with people who are focused on making life better. Innovation, inclusivity and teamwork are a part of our DNA. When you add that to the challenges we take on and solve together, you’ll discover that at HARMAN you can grow, make a difference and be proud of the work you do everyday.

A Career at HARMAN Lifestyle

We’re a global, multi-disciplinary team that’s putting the innovative power of technology to work and transforming tomorrow. As a member of HARMAN Lifestyle, you connect consumers with the power of superior sound.

• Contribute your talents to high-end, esteemed brands like JBL, Mark Levinson and Revel
• Unite your passion for audio innovation with high-tech product development
• Create pitch-perfect, cutting-edge technology that elevates the listening experience

What You Will Do:

• Own end-to-end audio algorithm architecture for one or more technology, from concept definition to production deployment.
• Define system-level trade-offs across acoustics, DSP, latency, power, and hardware constraints.
• Develop algorithms across areas including but not limited to audio enhancement, beamforming, spatial audio, acoustic feedback control, source separation, and intelligent sound processing.
• Design, develop, and optimize audio and signal processing algorithms, to create differentiated audio experiences for HARMAN consumer audio products.
• Apply signal processing fundamentals to solve real‑world audio problems.
• Collaborate closely with acoustics engineers, software engineers, product managers, and UX teams to integrate algorithms into embedded and real‑time systems.
• Optimize algorithms for real‑time and low‑latency constraints, balancing audio quality, computational complexity, and system resources.
• Drive innovation in audio algorithms by proposing novel approaches and translating cutting-edge research into scalable product solutions.
• Mentor engineers and lead technical direction in algorithm development, including design reviews and problem-solving strategies.
• Participate in code reviews, ensuring high-quality, maintainable, and efficient code.
• Collaborate with suppliers, research institutes, and partners to evaluate and integrate advanced audio technologies.

What You Need:

• Master's or Ph.D. degree in Acoustics, Signal Processing, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, with a strong focus on audio signal processing.
• Minimum of 8–10 years of experience in audio algorithm development or related field.
• Proven experience in delivering end-to-end audio features in commercial products.
• Strong understanding of digital signal processing concepts, including filtering, transforms, and time-frequency analysis.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as C/C++, Python, and MATLAB.
• Experience in algorithm evaluation, including objective measurements and listening tests.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to think creatively to develop innovative solutions.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a team environment.

What Is Nice to Have:

• Strong track record of innovation, including patents, publications, or delivered proprietary algorithms in commercial products.
• Hands‑on experience with AI‑based audio algorithms such as speech enhancement, music information retrieval, source separation, or intelligent sound control.
• Knowledge of real‑time or embedded audio systems, including latency, memory, and CPU constraints.
• Knowledge of psychoacoustics and the human auditory system.
• Familiarity with audio hardware, including microphones, speakers, and audio interfaces.
• Contributions to open-source audio projects or active participation in the audio technology community.

What Makes You Eligible

• Willingness to travel 10% of the time.
• Willingness to work in an office in Shenzhen.
• Willingness to submit to a background screen and a drug test.

HARMAN is proud to be an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard torace, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.