Perceptual Audio Engineer: Shape Sound Quality with AI

HARMAN International; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 134,000 - 197,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee discounts on JBL, Harman Kard

HARMAN University training

Wellness benefits

Tuition reimbursement

Be Brilliant program

Job summary

HARMAN Research Intelligent Audio is seeking a Perceptual Audio Engineer to define perceptual targets, validate metrics, and build reusable evaluation datasets. You will translate what listeners hear into practical criteria that researchers, engineers, and product teams can act on, driving rapid deployment of sound-quality improvements across Harman products.

Reporting to the Director of Intelligent Audio, you will design perceptual studies, develop metrics, and apply AI methods to accelerate

Qualifications

• An advanced degree in acoustics, psychoacoustics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Typically at least five years in perceptual audio, audio quality evaluation, or related research.
• Strong command of psychoacoustics, experimental design, and statistical reasoning.
• Experience selecting listening test methods and documenting validity.
• Experience validating perceptual models against human tests and scaling performance.
• Fluency with Python, MATLAB, or equivalent, with reproducible code and reporting.
• Ability to translate findings into practical criteria adopted across teams.
• Demonstrated use of modern AI methods to improve perceptual evaluation workflows.

Responsibilities

• Define perceptual targets and translate experiences into measurable success criteria.
• Design a perceptual research program addressing business and product needs.
• Develop and validate perceptual metrics and calibration methods.
• Build reusable evaluation assets: datasets, tests, and benchmarks.
• Transfer perceptual evidence into product requirements and tests.
• Improve the research workflow with AI to increase speed and scale while maintaining rigor.
• Explain practical significance and uncertainty to cross-functional teams.

Skills

Psychoacoustics

Experimental design

Python / MATLAB

Data analysis

Research-to-product

Education

Advanced degree in acoustics or related field

Tools

Python

MATLAB

Job description

HARMAN Research Intelligent Audio is seeking a Perceptual Audio Engineer to define perceptual targets, validate metrics, and build reusable evaluation datasets. You will translate what listeners hear into practical criteria that researchers, engineers, and product teams can act on, driving rapid deployment of sound-quality improvements across Harman products.

Reporting to the Director of Intelligent Audio, you will design perceptual studies, develop metrics, and apply AI methods to accelerate