Director, Experience Intelligence

A Career at HARMAN

As a technology leader that is rapidly on the move HARMAN is filled with people who are focused on making life better. Innovation inclusivity and teamwork are a part of our DNA. When you add that to the challenges we take on and solve together youll discover that at HARMAN you can grow make a difference and be proud of the work you do every day.

Introduction: A Career at HARMAN Corporate

Were a global multi-disciplinary team thats putting the innovative power of technology to work and transforming tomorrow. At HARMAN Corporate you are integral to our companys award-winning success.

• Enrich your managerial and organizational talents from finance quality and supply chain to human resources IT sales and strategy
• Augment your comprehensive skillset with expert training across decision-making change management leadership and business development
• Obtain 360-degree support throughout your career life cycle from early-stage to seasoned leader

About the Role

The Director of Experience Intelligence leads the applied research pod within Intelligent Audio driving the fusion of perceptual audio science machine learning acoustics and signal processing to create new user this role you will build and guide a world-class research team that invents and productizes the next generation of spatial audio adaptive sound personalization and context-aware features. Your focus is on the intelligence behind the audio experience developing algorithms and models that make sound systems perceptually tuned adaptive to context and seamless across devices. You will define the research roadmap (for example on topics like immersive spatial audio personalized sound profiles advanced noise management perceptual metrics for audio quality etc.) and ensure that breakthroughs transition into real-time implementations for product integration. This position is both technical and strategic: you will direct research projects manage researchers and engineers and partner with product teams to align innovations with platform needs. Success in 1218 months would mean delivering platform-ready intelligent audio features (e.g. improved spatial rendering perceptual tuning systems) that are integrated into flagship products as well as establishing new evaluation frameworks that elevate how audio is tuned and measured.

What You Will Do

• Research Leadership: Define and own the Experience Intelligence research roadmap e.g. spatial audio algorithms (upmixing 3D rendering beamforming) adaptive noise cancellation and hear-through enhancements for hearables perceptual audio evaluation methods) multi-device audio coordination etc.. Prioritize research pillars that will most enhance user experience and product differentiation.
• Project Execution: Oversee the design and execution of research projects from concept through proof-of-concept and prototype. Ensure a rigorous approach to experimentation: develop perceptual metrics and data-driven evaluation so that perception becomes the objective function in algorithm design. Guide the team in building testbeds collecting data (e.g. listening tests) and iterating on algorithms using both objective and subjective feedback.
• Technology Transfer: Work closely with the Productization team to transition mature research into real-time implementations (C/C/embedded DSP) and ultimately into products. Plan for scalability and predictability for each innovation establish clear performance benchmarks and integration requirements so product teams can adopt them with confidence.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with other divisions -e.g. consumer audio automotive audio BUs and Samsung/Harman ecosystem teams - to co-develop platform capabilities and ensure research outcomes fit into broader product strategies. Coordinate with internal cross-divisional teams on multi-device user experience aspects. Communicate complex technical concepts and project status to executive stakeholders and product management regularly.
• People and Thought Leadership: Recruit mentor and develop top talent (DSP engineers acoustic researchers ML scientists etc.). Foster a culture of scientific excellence and creative problem-solving. Set technical standards (technical and code reviews experiment design etc.) and ensure continuous learning. Drive thought leadership by publishing research when strategic filing patents and representing Harman in academic or industry forums.
• KPIs & Success Metrics: Define what success looks like for Experience Intelligence innovations (e.g. an AI-driven tuning system cuts manual tuning time in half). Track these outcome metrics and adjust research directions to meet them. Ultimately ensure that the teams work results in tangible improvements to user experience that can be quantified and are valued by the business.

What You Need to Be Successful

• Education: Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering Computer Science Acoustics Signal Processing or a related field is strongly preferred (or equivalent deep R&D experience). A strong academic research background in audio DSP acoustics or machine learning for signal processing.
• Experience: 10 years of hands-on R&D experience in audio technologies (DSP algorithms acoustic systems perceptual audio science and/or AI for audio). Demonstrated innovation through a substantial publications and patent record and experience delivering novel technologies into real products. Prior experience leading a research team or large research projects is required.
• Domain Expertise: Deep expertise in several of the following: acoustic fundamentals and transducer design (e.g. loudspeaker-room interaction headphone coupling); advanced signal processing (spatial audio beamforming adaptive filtering optimization statistical signal processing); machine learning techniques applied to audio (deep learning for speech/music AI-based noise reduction etc.); perceptual audio evaluation and psychoacoustics; and audio system architecture (wired/wireless audio signal chains).
• Leadership & Collaboration: Proven ability to build and lead high-performing teams of scientists/engineers. Excellent mentoring skills and talent development. Strong cross-functional collaboration skills - able to work with product managers engineering leaders and external partners. Effective communicator able to articulate complex technical vision and inspire stakeholders at all levels.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in algorithm development and modeling tools (MATLAB Python etc.) as well as implementation in C/C for real-time systems. Familiarity with modern AI frameworks (PyTorch/TensorFlow) for audio research. Experience with hardware and software co-design considerations (e.g. knowing how to optimize algorithms for an embedded processor or understanding limitations of microphones/speakers).
• Preferred: Experience across multiple audio domains (e.g. worked on consumer headphones as well as automotive or pro audio). Knowledge of audio industry standards (e.g. Dolby Atmos Bluetooth LE Audio/Auracast) and emerging trends in personalized audio and hearing augmentation. Background in perceptual user studies or statistical analysis of subjective tests is a plus.
• Successfully complete a background investigation and drug screen as a condition of employment (post-offer).

What Makes You Eligible

• Successfully complete a background investigation and drug screen as a condition of employment (post-offer).

What We Offer

• Flexible work environment allowing for full-time remote work globally for positions that can be performed outside a HARMAN or customer location
• Access to employee discounts on world-class products (JBL HARMAN Kardon AKG and more)
• Extensive training opportunities through our own HARMAN University
• Competitive wellness benefits
• Tuition reimbursement
• Be Brilliant employee recognition and rewards program
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development

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HARMAN is proud to be an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard torace religion color national origin gender (including pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions) sexual orientation gender identity gender expression age status as a protected veteran status as an individual with a disability or other applicable legally protected characteristics.