Speaker Systems Engineer

Sesame • San Francisco, CA

13h • $175,000 - $280,000

About The Position

Sesame is building smart wearables where the speaker must be small, loud at the ear, and quiet to others. This role involves owning the entire speaker system, from selecting transducers and designing the acoustic path in limited space to setting operational limits, collaborating on tuning, and overseeing production testing. The goal is to create a natural and human-like interaction with computers through voice agents.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Acoustics, Physics, or similar.
• 5+ years of experience integrating speakers into consumer electronics hardware, with at least one shipped product where you owned the speaker system.
• Strong grounding in electroacoustics: lumped-parameter modeling, Thiele/Small parameters, enclosure and port design, and the behavior of small drivers at their limits.
• Hands-on experience specifying and qualifying miniature speakers with transducer suppliers.
• Extensive experience with audio test systems (e.g., SoundCheck, Klippel, Audio Precision) and with measuring distortion, maximum SPL, and rub-and-buzz.
• A record of using acoustic simulation (lumped-parameter and FEM, e.g., COMSOL) to make design decisions, checked against measured hardware.
• Working knowledge of speaker tuning and protection (EQ, limiting, excursion and thermal protection) and how to partner with a DSP team on it.

Nice To Haves

• Masters or Ph.D. in EE, ME, Acoustics, or related disciplines.
• 8+ years of experience in speaker or transducer development for consumer electronics.
• Experience with wearables, hearables, or other products where the speaker sits close to the ear and the acoustic volume is measured in fractions of a cubic centimeter, including open-ear designs.
• Hands-on experience with a range of transducer technologies beyond conventional moving-coil drivers, and a view on where each one fits.
• Transducer design experience: motor, diaphragm, and suspension design, or close work with a supplier’s design team.
• Proficiency in a high-level programming language (e.g., MATLAB, Python) for measurement automation and analysis.
• Familiarity with human perception of sound and psychoacoustic evaluation of speech quality and intelligibility.
• Experience with factory acoustic test development and yield analysis at a contract manufacturer.

Responsibilities

• Own the speaker path of a shipping consumer electronics product, from transducer selection through enclosure design and factory test
• Translate product-level requirements into speaker system and transducer requirements: bandwidth, level, distortion, leakage, and power budget in the volume available.
• Select, specify, and qualify speakers with suppliers, including evaluation of new and unconventional transducer technologies where they fit the product better than a conventional driver.
• Design and simulate the acoustic path: back volume, ports and leaks, front acoustics, open-ear leakage control, mesh and sealing, in close partnership with mechanical and industrial design.
• Build and measure prototypes; characterize frequency response, distortion, maximum output, far-field leakage, and excursion and thermal limits, and turn the results into design changes and better models.
• Own speaker limits and protection parameters; partner with the Audio Lead on tuning and with firmware on implementation.
• Work with the audio DSP team to minimize speaker-to-mic coupling through the frame.
• Qualify the speaker system for reliability: sweat and ingress, temperature and humidity, drop, mesh clogging, and drift over life.
• Set up and maintain speaker measurement methods in the lab and at the factory, including golden units, limits, and end-of-line acoustic test.
• Support builds and factory ramps, root-cause acoustic yield and quality issues, and drive fixes with suppliers and the CM.
• Work with the cross-functional team (EE, ME, FW, PD) to trade off acoustic performance against size, cost, and power.

Benefits

• 401 (k) max employer match: 3.5% of compensation
• 100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental benefits for you and your dependents
• Unlimited PTO and sick time
• Flexible spending account with employer matching up to $1,650/year (medical FSA)
• Guardian Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Opportunity to share in the company's success with competitive stock options

What This Job Offers

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