Director, Intelligent Audio

HARMAN International; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 173,000 - 254,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee discounts

HARMAN University

Wellness benefits

Tuition reimbursement

Recognition program

Diversity and inclusion

Job summary

HARMAN is seeking a Global Leader of Intelligent Audio in Los Angeles to direct an applied research team and translate AI breakthroughs into product-ready technologies for audio systems. You will shape a focused team, drive cultural excellence, and align stakeholders across product, UX, and engineering to accelerate adoption.

The role combines leadership, hands-on technical work, and strategic influence to deliver measurable audio improvements while expanding capabilities across consumer,

Qualifications

• Significant leadership and impact in audio technology and AI for audio delivered to products.
• Experience guiding technical teams and communicating a complex vision to executives.
• Strong fundamentals in audio plus modern AI methods to improve systems and workflows.

Responsibilities

• Set the applied research strategy for intelligent audio at HARMAN.
• Deliver product-ready technology by turning research into prototypes and products.
• Build cross‑functional alignment to move research into real-time implementations.
• Grow and coach a high‑performing team, shaping culture and standards.
• Advise executives on progress, investment priorities, and risk.

Skills

Audio technology leadership

Applied AI experience

Leadership of teams

Algorithm development

Real-time systems

Cross-functional influence

Communication to stakeholders

Education

Electrical Engineering

Computer Science

Acoustics

Tools

C/C++

AI frameworks

Signal processing tools

Job description

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, you’ll discover that at HARMAN you can grow, make a difference and be proud of the work you do every day.

About the Role

The Global Leader of Intelligent Audio leads a high-performing applied research team and shapes an ambitious North Star: set a new standard for intelligent audio technology. We are looking for a leader with the passion and technical imagination to expand what audio can do in the era of Artificial Intelligence and the drive to turn that vision into products. You will build on HARMAN’s research and audio heritage to create contextual, personalized, adaptive, and interactive device experiences, with excellent sound as the goal and AI as a powerful enabler. This hands‑on, lead‑from‑within role is about shaping a focused team, its culture, and how it works rather than running a large, established organization. Success means shipping platform‑ready capabilities in flagship products and establishing AI‑enabled tools, testing practices, and workflows that improve how audio is built, tuned, and measured.

What You Will Do

• Set the technical direction: Own the applied research strategy for intelligent audio at HARMAN. Turn research into commercial‑ready technologies that enable audio systems to perceive, understand, and respond intelligently to our customers and the world around them.
• Deliver product ready technology: Set a new standard for research delivery by using AI‑enabled workflows to move from concept to validated prototype and product transfer far faster than traditional methods allow. Work with AI experts and technical project management to continually reinvent how the team specifies, builds, tests, and learns as AI capabilities and R&D practices advance, while preserving technical rigor and audio quality.
• Build adoption across HARMAN: Partner with UX, Strategy, Product, Engineering, and business leaders, using proactive cross‑business influence to align roadmaps and move mature research into real‑time implementations that product teams can adopt with confidence.
• Grow a high‑performing team: Lead from within, shape the team and its culture, coach technical talent, recruit where needed, set clear standards for scientific and engineering rigor, and keep the team current through practical learning and modern tools.
• Define and communicate success: Advise executive and product leaders, translating emerging technologies into technical choices, investment priorities, and clear views of progress and risk. Track outcomes such as perceptible audio improvement, shorter prototype and test cycles, adoption in product platforms, and growth in team capability.

What You Need to Be Successful

Essential

• A degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Acoustics, Signal Processing, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Significant relevant experience, typically 8–10+ years, or an equivalent track record of exceptional impact, leadership, and achievement in audio technology and AI for audio, including delivery of novel technology into products.
• Strong audio fundamentals and applied AI experience, with the judgment to set direction across specialists rather than personally master every audio discipline.
• Demonstrated use of modern AI methods to improve audio systems and research workflows, with a habit of exploring rapidly evolving AI capabilities in new ways. You can explain what you built, how it was evaluated, and how it improved quality, speed, scale, or product outcomes.
• Experience leading and developing technical teams, influencing across organizational boundaries, and communicating a complex technical vision to senior stakeholders.
• Practical fluency with algorithm development and modeling tools, plus the systems understanding to guide real‑time implementation and hardware/software tradeoffs.
• A desire to change the world of audio experiences across Consumer, Pro and Automotive

Preferred

• Experience across more than one audio domain, such as consumer, automotive, or professional audio.
• Breadth in areas such as beamforming, spatial rendering, signal processing, perceptual audio, sensing, embedded systems, connected devices, speech pickup or generation, or automated dataset collection.
• Experience with C/C++, modern AI frameworks, perceptual studies, or statistical analysis of subjective tests.
• Knowledge of industry standards and platforms such as Dolby Atmos, Bluetooth LE Audio, and Auracast.
• An advanced degree, patents, or publications. Demonstrated product impact matters more than credentials alone.

What Makes You Eligible

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

What We Offer

• 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

Salary Ranges

$ 173,250 - $ 254,100

HARMAN is proud to be an Equal Opportunity / Aff… etc