Senior Staff Software Engineer, Audio Systems, XR

About the role

Google's software engineers develop next‑generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information. As the Audio System Engineering Lead, you will serve as the systems architect for acoustics, hardware co‑design, and audio tuning across Google's smart glasses and XR wearable portfolio. You will own end‑to‑end audio quality, both capture and playback, across all operational modes and product form factors, bridging the gap between physical acoustics, embedded DSP software, and machine‑learning‑driven speech enhancement. You will navigate high ambiguity, define technical roadmaps, establish acoustic tuning methodologies, and align multi‑disciplinary engineering teams. The XR team is at the forefront of the convergence of AI and XR, building lightweight devices that pair with helpful AI to augment human intelligence. In most instances, this position requires in‑person interviews as part of the hiring process. Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level. Employment type: Full‑time. Industries: Information Services and Technology, Information and Internet.

Responsibilities

• Partner with physical hardware teams to evaluate and select microphones, speakers, amplifiers and optimize microphone array placement/orientation and acoustic chambers under severe spatial constraints.
• Lead and guide the tuning engineering team to define KPIs and optimize playback (DEQ, MBDRC, speaker limiters) and capture (AEC, beamforming, neural wind noise reduction, VAD/AIT) signal processing blocks on resource‑constrained embedded architectures.
• Take ultimate accountability for overall audio quality across all XR glasses form factors; establish standardized quality metrics and audio tuning practices.
• Own and drive the long‑term technical roadmap and strategy for XR audio systems; decompose ambiguous, highly complex audio challenges into structured, multi‑team projects.
• Evaluate, select, and manage key components and IP vendors; drive the integration of advanced audio algorithms (e.g., Acoustic Echo Cancellation, spatial audio, noise suppression) utilizing both in‑house research and external vendor technologies.

Minimum qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Acoustics, Mechanical Engineering (Acoustics focus), Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience. 8 years of industry experience in audio systems engineering, acoustics, physical acoustic design, audio system tuning, or digital signal processing for consumer electronics or wearable devices.

Preferred qualifications

Master’s degree or PhD in Acoustics, Electrical Engineering, Audio Signal Processing, or Psychoacoustics.

Skills

Demonstrated experience in acoustic tuning of both playback (EQ, MBDRC, speaker protection, loudness optimization) and capture (AEC, beamforming, noise suppression) production pipelines. Proven track record of architecting, tuning, and shipping audio systems for high‑volume commercial wearable products (e.g., smart glasses, AR/VR headsets, TWS earbuds, smart speakers, or hearables). Deep expertise in physical micro‑acoustics: acoustic cavity design, porting, acoustic mesh impedance, transducer characterization, and lumped‑element/FEA acoustic modeling.

Pay

US: $262,000 - $364,000 (USD) + 25% bonus target + equity + benefits. Individual pay is determined by factors including job‑related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

Benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google.