Application Engineer - EE/Audio

xMEMS Labs; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 95,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Opportunity for advancement

401(k)

Bonus based on performance

Company parties

Competitive salary

Dental insurance

Free food & snacks

Health insurance

Paid time off

Parental leave

Stock options plan

Vision insurance

Job summary

xMEMS Labs is seeking an Application Engineer in Santa Clara to support customer integration, platform development, and performance optimization of Piezo‑MEMS micro speaker solutions. The role blends hardware lab work with direct customer engagement and field applications collaboration.

Ideal candidates bring hands-on experience with mixed‑signal audio hardware, strong fundamentals in acoustics, and excellent verbal and written communication skills to drive design‑in and field deployment across

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Acoustics, Physics or related field; Master’s preferred.
• 1+ years in electronics industry with mixed-signal audio hardware background or strong hands-on project/research/internship experience.
• Interest in and aptitude for customer-facing work with clear verbal and written communication skills.
• Hands-on experience with schematic entry and PCB layout concepts; Cadence or Altium preferred.
• Lab experience using oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, logic analyzers, and related bench equipment.
• Working knowledge of acoustic fundamentals, transducers, and audio system performance validation.
• Experience debugging electrical and acoustic hardware issues in hands-on development environment.
• Ability to read, write, and work from detailed technical specifications.
• Ability to collaborate with mechanical, DSP, acoustic, and third-party engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide direct engineering support to key customers, ODM/CM partners, and Field Applications Engineers during design‑in, validation, and commercialization.
• Develop and support xMEMS hardware platforms, including schematic design, PCB design, and firmware development.
• Characterize, validate, and debug electrical and acoustic system performance.
• Perform electrical assembly, soldering, and bring‑up of demo and evaluation systems.
• Support acoustic system tuning and performance optimization for micro speaker modules and related audio platforms.
• Conduct lab measurements and validation, including SPL, THD, frequency response, and electrical signal integrity.
• Troubleshoot field and customer issues, perform root cause analysis, and drive issue resolution across hardware and system levels.
• Collaborate closely with IC design engineers to define design requirements based on customer use cases and system needs.
• Work cross‑functionally with mechanical, DSP, acoustic, product, and test engineers to support product development and customer deployment.
• Develop technical collateral including datasheets, application notes, integration guides, reference designs, and technical articles.
• Support technical communication with customers through clear verbal, written, and specification‑level documentation.

Skills

Customer-facing

Hands-on hardware

Lab debugging

Technical communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Acoustics, Physics

Master or higher degree welcome

Tools

Cadence

Altium

Job description

Position Summary

xMEMS Labs is redefining sound and cooling with its breakthrough piezoMEMS platform. We created the world's first solid-state MEMS speakers — powering AI glasses, earbuds, headphones, and smartwatches — and the first µCooling fan‑on‑a‑chip, enabling improved thermal performance in smartphones, AI glasses, SSDs, and beyond.

We are seeking an Application Engineer to support customer integration, platform development, and performance optimization of advanced Piezo‑MEMS micro speaker audio solutions. This role bridges hardware platform design, R&D collaboration, and customer‑facing technical support, helping enable successful design‑in and commercialization across next‑generation audio wearable products. The position involves both hands‑on lab work and direct engagement with customers and field application teams.

We weigh hands‑on ability and engineering fundamentals more heavily than years on a résumé. Experienced audio and mixed‑signal engineers will find substantial ownership here, and strong early‑career engineers — including recent Master’s graduates in Electrical Engineering — are encouraged to apply. Scope and title are calibrated to the person we find.

Benefits

• Opportunity for advancement
• 401(k)
• Bonus based on performance
• Company parties
• Competitive salary
• Dental insurance
• Free food & snacks
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Stock options plan
• Vision insurance

Key Responsibilities

• Provide direct engineering support to key customers, ODM/CM partners, and Field Applications Engineers during design‑in, validation, and commercialization
• Develop and support xMEMS hardware platforms, including schematic design, PCB design, and firmware development
• Characterize, validate, and debug electrical and acoustic system performance
• Perform electrical assembly, soldering, and bring‑up of demo and evaluation systems
• Support acoustic system tuning and performance optimization for micro speaker modules and related audio platforms
• Conduct lab measurements and validation, including SPL, THD, frequency response, and electrical signal integrity
• Troubleshoot field and customer issues, perform root cause analysis, and drive issue resolution across hardware and system levels
• Collaborate closely with IC design engineers to define design requirements based on customer use cases and system needs
• Work cross‑functionally with mechanical, DSP, acoustic, product, and test engineers to support product development and customer deployment
• Develop technical collateral including datasheets, application notes, integration guides, reference designs, and technical articles
• Support technical communication with customers through clear verbal, written, and specification‑level documentation

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Acoustics, Physics, or related field; Master or higher degree welcome
• 1+ years of experience in the electronics industry, preferably with mixed‑signal audio amplifier, power, or related hardware background — recent Master’s graduates with strong fundamentals and substantial hands‑on project, research, or internship experience will also be considered
• Interest in and aptitude for customer‑facing work, with clear verbal and written communication skills
• Hands‑on experience with component selection, schematic entry, and PCB layout design concepts; Cadence or Altium preferred
• Lab experience using oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, logic analyzers, and related bench equipment
• Working knowledge of acoustic fundamentals, transducers, and audio system performance validation
• Experience debugging electrical and acoustic hardware issues in a hands‑on development environment
• Ability to read, write, and work from detailed technical specifications
• Ability to collaborate with mechanical, DSP, acoustic, and third‑party engineering teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Audio system test experience using platforms such as Audio Precision, SoundCheck, or equivalent
• Experience supporting consumer audio products such as TWS, wired earbuds, OWS, gaming headsets, VR/AR devices, AI glasses, OTC hearing devices, or other wearables
• DSP and audio tuning experience
• Tier 1 customer support experience
• Firmware bring‑up experience on existing reference designs
• Scripting for test automation and data analysis (Python or MATLAB)
• Mandarin language ability, given close collaboration with our Taiwan team and Asia‑based ODM/CM partners

Key Success Traits

• Customer‑facing confidence and technical credibility, or the clear potential to develop it
• Hands‑on hardware and lab debugging capability
• Ability to translate customer problems into practical engineering solutions
• Strong ownership and problem‑solving ability, including scoping, planning, and driving investigations
• Curiosity and willingness to learn quickly in a fast‑moving hardware environment
• Comfortable balancing detailed lab work with external technical communication

Location / Practical Requirements

• Santa Clara, California, USA
• Bachelor's degree required
• Ability to commute to the job location required
• Occasional travel to customer and ODM/CM sites, including Asia, may be required