Audio Systems Engineer, Robot Head

1X • San Carlos, CA

7h • Onsite

About The Position

1X is building humanoid robots for home use, aiming to automate chores and tasks to give people back their time. This requires solving complex challenges in robotics, AI, and manufacturing simultaneously, at scale, and in a safe form factor for home environments. The Robot Head team specifically focuses on developing the sensing, interaction, and communication systems that enable natural human-robot engagement. Audio is a crucial element for speech recognition, localization, communication, and environmental awareness in dynamic settings. This team collaborates across hardware, firmware, machine learning, software, industrial design, and manufacturing to create reliable audio experiences for home robots operating alongside people. The systems developed by this team will significantly influence how humans interact with robots daily.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Extensive experience designing audio hardware systems, including microphones, speakers, and associated signal chains.
• Strong hands-on experience with audio measurement and validation equipment.
• Experience working with real-time audio streaming systems and digital signal processing techniques.
• Understanding of noise reduction, audio enhancement, and speech capture optimization methodologies.
• Ability to analyze test data and drive iterative improvements to system performance.
• Experience collaborating closely with software, electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing teams.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to delivering high-quality user experiences.
• Ability to work full-time on-site.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with embedded systems and firmware development fundamentals.
• Experience applying machine learning techniques to audio processing problems.
• Background developing consumer electronics products.
• Experience designing and supporting factory-level audio test systems and manufacturing validation processes.
• Familiarity with voice interaction systems, beamforming, speech enhancement, or audio perception technologies.
• Experience supporting products from prototype development through volume production.

Responsibilities

• Own the audio hardware and firmware systems for human-robot communication.
• Design, integrate, and optimize microphone and speaker systems.
• Partner with software teams on signal processing, machine learning, and perception.
• Manage the entire lifecycle from concept development, prototyping, validation, system integration, to production deployment.
• Ensure high-quality audio performance in diverse environments and operating conditions.
• Improve speech capture quality, localization accuracy, and audio reliability.
• Integrate audio hardware with signal processing, VAD, DOA, noise suppression, and machine learning pipelines.
• Establish validation methodologies and performance metrics for product readiness and production.
• Drive audio system performance improvements through field testing, data analysis, and cross-functional collaboration.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Generous paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave
• 401(k) plan with company match (100% on the first 3% of contributions, 50% on the next 2%)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) options
• Commuter benefits (transit and parking)
• Short-term and long-term disability, and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial, and personal support
• Onsite snacks and catered lunches

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior