Staff Audio Test Automation Engineer
About The Position
Ford’s Electric Vehicles, Digital and Design (EVDD) team is charged with delivering the company’s vision of a fully electric transportation future. EVDD is customer-obsessed, entrepreneurial, and data-driven and is dedicated to delivering industry-leading customer experience for electric vehicle buyers and owners. You’ll join an agile team of doers pioneering our EV future by working collaboratively, staying focused on only what matters, and delivering excellence day in and day out. Join us to make positive change by helping build a better world where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. We are seeking an experienced Staff Audio Test Automation Engineer to lead the automated validation of next-generation In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) audio systems. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain scalable test suites using Python and pytest to validate multi-channel audio routing, DSP pipelines, external sound systems (AVAS), hands-free calling, and onboard amplifier performance.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Audio Engineering, Acoustics, or related field.
- Experience with automotive communication buses (CAN, CAN-FD, Automotive Ethernet) and automotive audio buses (Analog, A2B).
- Prior experience with automotive IVI systems (Android Automotive OS, QNX, or Automotive Grade Linux).
- Familiarity with speech quality standards (PESQ, POLQA, 3GPP/ITU-T loudness specs).
- Experience with professional audio test instruments (Audio Precision, SoundCheck/Listen Inc., or Rohde & Schwarz).
- Familiarity with AVAS (UN ECE R138 / FMVSS 141) acoustic safety regulations.
Nice To Haves
- 3+ years of professional experience building automated test frameworks in Python using pytest.
- Strong theoretical and practical foundation in digital signal processing (DSP) using Python scientific libraries (numpy, scipy, sounddevice, PyAudio).
- Hands-on experience with multi-channel audio interfaces, line-output converters, microphone/speaker calibration, and gain staging.
- Deep familiarity with core acoustic and audio measurements: Frequency analysis / FFT spectral analysis, THD / THD+N (Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise), Dynamic range, SNR, and crosstalk/isolation, RMS / Loudness / Audio ducking ratios.
- Strong experience working in Linux (Ubuntu) environments, including ALSA/PulseAudio/PipeWire audio routing and configuration.
Responsibilities
- Develop and scale automated test libraries in Python (pytest) running on Linux/Ubuntu to interface with multi-channel audio hardware (e.g., Behringer UMC series, AudioControl line converters, DAQs).
- Implement signal-processing algorithms to validate frequency response, channel separation, ducking, mixing, and dynamic gain control.
- Validate IVI media playback across multi-channel vehicle configurations (e.g., 3-channel, multi-speaker surround, subwoofers).
- Validate Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) pitch/frequency modulation tied to vehicle telemetry.
- Validate Hands-Free Profile (HFP/VoIP) voice quality, downlink/uplink routing, and acoustic behavior.
- Execute platform-level amplifier and DSP stress tests, monitoring diagnostics, clipping, and fault handling.
- Setup, calibrate, and maintain bench-level audio hardware, signal routing, gain staging, and electrical isolation.
- Integrate audio test suites into automated build and regression pipelines.
Benefits
- Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
- Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up childcare and more
- Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
- Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
- Tuition assistance
- Established and active employee resource groups
- Paid time off for individual and team community service
- A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
- Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
