Speaker Systems Engineer

Location

San Francisco

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

On-site

Department

Hardware

Compensation

• $175K – $280K

About Sesame

Sesame believes in a future where computers are lifelike - with the ability to see, hear, and collaborate with us in ways that feel natural and human. With this vision, we're designing a new kind of computer, focused on making voice agents part of our daily lives. Our team brings together founders from Oculus and Ubiquity6, alongside proven leaders from Meta, Google, and Apple, with deep expertise spanning hardware and software. Join us in shaping a future where computers truly come alive.

About the Role

We're building smart wearables where the speaker gets a fraction of a cubic centimeter and has to be loud at the ear and quiet to everyone around you. We're looking for a Speaker Systems Engineer to own the speaker system in our products end to end: choosing and specifying the transducers, designing the acoustic path around them in very little space, setting their limits and protection, partnering with the Audio Lead on tuning, and getting them built and tested at volume.

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.

Required Qualifications:

• 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.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 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.

Sesame is committed to a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered. We welcome all qualified applicants, embracing diversity in race, gender, identity, orientation, ability, and more. We provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. Contact [email protected] for assistance.

Full-time Employee 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

Benefits do not apply to contingent/contract workers.

Compensation Range: $175K - $280K