Audio Hardware Engineer

About HP At HP, you’ll have a chance to create tools, technology, and solutions that reshape the way the world works in the future. If you’re looking to join a company that allows you to connect with a network of professionals eager to support you in doing your best work, we want to talk to you. Our legendary culture guides every employee toward success—fostering collaboration and driving innovation. Operating in over 170 countries, HP is always creating new services, products, and capabilities giving you more opportunities to advance your career. Here, innovation is the key to professional development and career mobility. When you join HP, you’re joining a company that believes every voice matters and that we all deserve a seat at the table. From the boardroom to factory floor, we create a culture where everyone is respected and where people can be themselves. You will be part of a global laboratory where different perspectives and experiences will help you solve problems in new ways. This is where you can build a long and wide-ranging career. Location: Austin, Texas (Onsite Required) Department: Engineering / Audio Architecture Experience: 10+ years Employment Type: Full-time Position Summary We are seeking a highly experienced Audio Hardware Engineer to lead the physical architecture, component validation, and electro-acoustic optimization of our next-generation video conferencing and collaboration devices. This onsite position in Austin is a critical role established to bridge the gap in local hardware audio expertise and build a self-sustaining, best-in-class audio team. The ideal candidate will possess expert-level depth in electro-acoustic hardware engineering, transducer selection, and acoustic validation. Unlike traditional audio roles that rely heavily on mechanical engineering teams to structure audio solutions, this individual will take proactive ownership of the integration, layout, optimization, and validation of microphone arrays and speaker enclosures from schematic design through production. Key Responsibilities • Audio Hardware Component Selection: Take ownership of sourcing, evaluation, and qualification of audio hardware elements, including micro-loudspeakers, speaker drivers, premium microphone components, ADCs/DACs, and amplifier topologies. • Transducer & Array Tuning: Lead the electro-acoustic tuning and optimization of multi-microphone arrays (including 360-degree layouts) and complex speaker configurations to meet strict performance metrics and eliminate device architecture gaps. • Independent Mechanical-Acoustic Design: Proactively drive speaker box volumes, porting, sealing mechanisms, and microphone isolation boundaries rather than relying on mechanical engineering dependencies to solve fundamental acoustic problems. • Cross-Functional Hardware Collaboration: Partner directly with local and remote Hardware Architecture and Industrial Design teams to establish PCB layout requirements, pinmux audits, and signal path constraints for low-noise high-fidelity audio lines. • Advanced Acoustic Diagnostics: Run complete diagnostic test suites inside anechoic chambers and listening labs using Head and Torso Simulators (HATS) [1] to isolate audio defects like Rub & Buzz, THD+N, and structural resonances. • Ecosystem Validation: Tune physical and electro-acoustic architectures to cleanly pass high-level automated testing for Microsoft Teams Rooms and Zoom certifications under stringent geometric constraints. • Team Building & Leadership: Act as the foundational technical anchor for the Austin-based audio engineering team, establishing laboratory standard operating procedures and mentoring junior acoustics and test engineers. Required Qualifications • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Acoustics, Audio Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related technical field. • 10+ years of hands-on experience bringing consumer electronics, video conferencing endpoints, or professional audio hardware from concept to high-volume manufacturing. • Expert knowledge of electrodynamic transducer behavior, Thiele-Small parameters, and standard loudspeaker enclosure topologies (sealed, ported, passive radiator). • Proven background using precision acoustic measurement instrumentation (e.g., Audio Precision, SoundCheck, or Klippel measurement architectures). • Expertise defining spatial layouts for multi-channel microphone arrays, evaluating polar patterns, sensitivity, and Acoustic Overload Points (AOP). • Deep comprehension of physical isolation methodologies to mitigate structural resonance, vibration coupling, thermal noise, and acoustic leak echo. • Strong communication and documentation habits, with a clear track record of managing technical requirements with overseas manufacturing teams and ODM partners. Preferred Qualifications • Experience implementing automated audio validation scripts or testing pipelines using Python or MATLAB. • Familiarity with simulation platforms (COMSOL Multiphysics, ANSYS, or equivalent FEA tools) to predict structural resonance and enclosure acoustics. • Understanding of hardware digital interfaces (I2S, TDM, PDM) and their interactions with embedded Linux/Android media subsystems. • Familiarity with the operational boundaries of software DSP modules like Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), beamforming, and Sound Source Localization (SSL) to ensure hardware limits don't constrain algorithmic performance. Key Skills • Electro-Acoustics: Transducer specification, component qualification, microphone array placement, speaker profile height optimization, THD, SNR, and frequency response profiling. • Hardware Integration: Low-noise PCB routing guidelines, analog/digital isolation, schematic audits, component troubleshooting, and multi-channel system debugging. • Tools: Audio Precision, SoundCheck, anechoic test suites, HATS simulators, Python/MATLAB data parsing. What Success Looks Like Succ