Research Scientist V

About the role

Meta’s Reality Labs Research Audio team is advancing the science of augmented hearing—technology that helps people hear better in the hardest listening situations. The Research Scientist will lead and execute hearing‑science research programs, design and run listening studies, prototype and assess algorithms, and translate findings into future hearing‑technology directions.

Location

Redmond, WA (onsite work required)

Pay

$75‑$80 per hour

Responsibilities

• Define and drive research direction for hearing‑science programs, independently scoping and executing studies that advance hearing‑assistive technology.
• Execute established research plans through design, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Design and run listening experiments and human‑subject studies, including participant protocols, stimulus design, and psychoacoustic measurement.
• Prototype, tune, and evaluate hearing‑assistive signal‑processing algorithms and fitting approaches.
• Analyze experimental data and communicate findings clearly to research, engineering, and product partners.
• Collaborate onsite with audio researchers, hardware engineers, and software engineers to translate scientific results into system requirements.
• Document methods and results to ensure continuity and knowledge transfer across the team.

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD in Hearing Science, Audiology, Auditory Neuroscience, Acoustics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical research experience.
• Demonstrated domain expertise in hearing science and psychoacoustics.
• Hands‑on experience with hearing‑aid or hearing‑assistive signal processing (e.g., amplification, compression, noise reduction, directionality, feedback management) and fitting approaches.
• Experience designing, executing, and analyzing human‑subject listening studies.
• Technical proficiency sufficient to independently prototype algorithms and experimental tooling (e.g., MATLAB, Python).
• Proven experience driving research direction independently with minimal supervision.
• Available to work onsite in Redmond, WA.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with speech‑in‑noise measurement and speech intelligibility enhancement.
• Experience with wearable or head‑worn audio devices.
• Experience with microphone arrays, beamforming, or spatial audio processing.
• Track record of publications in hearing science, audiology, or audio signal processing venues.
• Experience partnering with cross‑functional hardware and software teams in a product research environment.

Key Projects / Day‑to‑Day Responsibilities

• Lead “meta‑trimmers” workstream: set study direction, execute experiments, and advance toward NTI milestones.
• Continue execution of pre‑planned “SIN on glasses” studies, maintaining schedule and rigor.
• Design and run listening/human‑subject studies: protocols, stimulus design, psychoacoustic measurement.
• Prototype, tune, and evaluate hearing‑assistive signal‑processing algorithms and fitting approaches.
• Analyze data and communicate findings to research, engineering, and product partners; document methods for continuity.

How performance will be measured

• Continued progress of meta‑trimmers toward its NTI milestones.
• On‑schedule execution of the already‑planned SIN on glasses studies.
• Quality and rigor of study design, analysis, and documentation.
• Ability to operate independently and set study direction with minimal supervision.
• Effective collaboration with audio research, hardware, and software partners onsite.

Team placement

Reality Labs Research, Audio — RL Research Audio hearing‑science workstreams (Hearing Enhancement v2 / Augmented Hearing), Redmond. The role provides bridge/backfill coverage for two workstreams whose DRIs are out, working alongside audio researchers, hardware engineers, and software engineers.

What makes this role interesting

• Direct contribution to augmented hearing research at Meta, a technology aimed at helping people hear better in the hardest listening situations.
• Research autonomy: set direction for own studies, work hands‑on with prototype head‑worn hardware in purpose‑built listening labs, and see scientific findings translate into future product requirements.
• Access to Meta prototype hearing/head‑worn devices, dedicated listening‑lab facilities, and a cross‑functional audio research organization spanning science, hardware, and software—a combination rarely available in academia or traditional hearing‑aid industry roles.

Value added / experience gained

• Experience running hearing‑science research at the intersection of psychoacoustics, signal processing, and consumer wearable hardware.
• Exposure to Meta‑scale research infrastructure and publication‑relevant work in speech‑in‑noise and hearing‑assistive processing.
• Broad cross‑functional collaboration experience with hardware and software teams.

Must‑have skills

• Hearing science & psychoacoustics domain expertise.
• Hands‑on hearing‑aid / hearing‑assistive signal processing and fitting approaches.
• Designing, running, and analyzing human‑subject listening studies (onsite, Redmond).

Nice‑to‑have skills

• Speech‑in‑noise measurement and speech intelligibility enhancement.
• Wearable / head‑worn audio device experience; microphone arrays, beamforming, or spatial audio.
• Publication track record in hearing science, audiology, or audio signal processing; prototyping in MATLAB/Python.

Years of experience & expertise

8+ years in hearing science / psychoacoustics and hearing‑assistive signal processing, including independent research leadership (IC5 equivalent). PhD research experience counts toward this.

Education / certifications required

PhD in Hearing Science, Audiology, Auditory Neuroscience, Acoustics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field — or equivalent practical research experience.

Meta background preference

Prior Meta / Reality Labs Research experience is a plus (faster ramp on tooling and prototype workflows) but not required.

Immediate disqualifiers

• Unable or unwilling to work onsite in Redmond, WA (remote is not an option).
• No hands‑on hearing‑aid / hearing‑assistive signal processing or fitting experience.
• No experience designing and running human‑subject listening studies.
• Requires close supervision / unable to independently set study direction.

Challenges to be aware of

• Picking up two in‑flight workstreams from departing DRIs with limited handover overlap.
• Operating in two different modes at once: setting new direction on meta‑trimmers while executing pre‑planned SIN on glasses studies.
• Ambiguity and shifting priorities typical of early‑stage research; must self‑direct.
• Hands‑on work with early prototype hardware that is still evolving.
• Strict onsite presence requirement and coordination across multiple cross‑functional partners.