Hardware System Engineer - AirPods System Technologies

Apple • Cupertino, CA

1d

About The Position

The AirPods System Technologies Team is seeking electrical engineers to define technologies for future products. The team architects, develops, and delivers features and technologies within the demanding physical and power constraints of AirPods.

In this role, you will develop system-level specifications and analyze and review custom silicon designs from in-house designers and third-party vendors. You will evaluate how sensing and signal-processing subsystems fit into the broader architecture, investigate technologies for new features, and conduct feasibility studies for novel systems during early concept phases. Focus areas include custom-silicon system integration and architecture, interface and data-path efficiency, and the effects of user-facing use cases on system design.

You will translate end-user features into low-level electrical and architectural specifications across the signal chain, from analog front ends and sensing modules through digital processing and firmware interfaces. The role requires understanding interactions among system submodules, anticipating and mitigating coexistence issues, and balancing electrical, mechanical, and software tradeoffs to reach solutions that meet AirPods’ stringent power and size constraints.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• 7+ years of proven experience in electronic system design or top-level chip architecture/specification.
• Excellent electrical engineering fundamentals, including basic circuits, analog, digital, and power.
• Familiarity with open-ended constraints and using an understanding of user experience to define electrical requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• Acquaintance with the ASIC/semiconductor development and manufacturing process.
• Familiarity with digital architecture fundamentals, such as memory and power-state management.
• Understanding of how computer-design tradeoffs affect power consumption.
• Ability to work across the stack, from analog sensing front ends through digital signal processing to how subsystem performance appears in user-facing features.
• Knowledge of digital signal-processing techniques and implementation tradeoffs.
• Ability to understand tradeoffs among electrical, mechanical, and software domains.
• Practical knowledge of communication protocols, especially USB, SPI, I2C, and UART.
• Hands-on experience in prototype bring-up, debugging, and functional verification.

Responsibilities

• Develop system-level specifications.
• Analyze and review custom silicon designs from in-house designers and third-party vendors.
• Evaluate how sensing and signal-processing subsystems integrate into the broader architecture.
• Investigate technologies that could enable new customer features.
• Conduct feasibility studies for novel systems during early concept phases.
• Focus on system integration and architecture of custom silicon, interface and data-path efficiency, and the impact of user-facing use cases.
• Translate end-user features into low-level electrical and architectural specifications across the full signal chain, from analog front ends and sensing modules through digital processing and firmware interfaces.
• Understand interactions among system submodules and project and mitigate coexistence issues at the architectural level.
• Balance electrical, mechanical, software, power, and physical-size tradeoffs to arrive at realizable solutions.

What This Job Offers

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