Haptics Firmware Engineer

Hark; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Hark, based in San Jose, California, is seeking a hands-on Embedded Engineer to develop haptic and motion control system firmware. The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of experience in firmware development and a deep understanding of actuator control.

This role requires skill in writing real-time firmware in C and C++ as well as a strong instinct for haptic feedback. Compensation for this full-time position ranges between $120,000 and $300,000 annually.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of firmware development experience using C/C++.
• Experience in motor or actuator control techniques.
• Proficient in measurement automation with scripting languages.

Responsibilities

• Develop real-time firmware for motion and haptic control systems.
• Tune controllers for optimal user experience.
• Prototype early hardware and finalize the product experience.

Skills

Firmware development in C and C++

Motor or actuator control

Communication

Measurement automation

Haptic feedback experience

Tools

Logic analyzers

Bus communication protocols

Job description

About Hark

Hark is an artificial intelligence company building advanced, personalized intelligence. One that is proactive, multimodal, and capable of interacting with the world through speech, text, vision, and persistent memory.

We're pairing that intelligence with next-generation hardware to create a universal interface between humans and machines. While today's AI largely operates through chat boxes and decade-old devices, Hark is focused on what comes next: agentic systems that interact naturally with people and the real world.

To get there, we're developing multimodal models and next-generation AI hardware together - designed from the ground up as a single, unified interface for a new era of intelligent systems.

About the Role

Hark is looking for an experience-focused, hands‑on embedded engineer to build haptic and motion control system firmware and software that deliver incredible interaction experiences. We care a lot about how things feel, and how the people that use them feel, and we want someone who shares that craft mindset.

Responsibilities

• Write real-time firmware in C and C++ that drives motion and haptic systems.
• Close the loop on response time and feel. characterize actuator behavior on the bench and tune controllers until the result is genuinely pleasant to use.
• Stand up early hardware, prove out feel and timing in prototype form, and shape the final shipping experience alongside product and industrial design partners.

Requirements

• 5+ years writing firmware for microcontrollers in C and C++.
• Demonstrated hands‑on motor or actuator control work that shipped — PID, feed‑forward, FOC, observers, and similar techniques.
• Comfort on the bench with scopes, logic analyzers, and bus traffic over I²C, SPI, or I²S.
• Working knowledge of Python or another scripting language for measurement automation and quick data analysis.
• Clear written communication — you can explain a tradeoff to a non‑firmware teammate without losing them.
• A strong instinct for what distinguishes haptics that feel right.

Bonus Qualifications

• DSP fundamentals: filtering, time‑domain shaping, and basic perceptual modeling.
• RTOS experience or comfort with bare‑metal scheduling for hard real‑time control loops.
• Familiarity with low‑power system design and the measurement habits that come with it.
• Prior work on consumer haptics, audio, or other systems where feel and timing are visible to the user.

Compensation

The US base salary range for this full-time position is between $120,000 - $300,000 annually.