Embedded Software Engineer, Haptics
Hark
$120,000 - $300,000 / year
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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.
The pay offered for this position may vary based on several individual factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package may also include additional components/benefits depending on the specific role. This information will be shared if an employment offer is extended.
About this role
Hark is building AI hardware that interacts naturally with people, and this role focuses on the firmware and control systems that make those interactions feel right. You'd write real-time C and C++ code for haptic and motion systems, working directly with actuators on the bench—tuning controllers, characterizing behavior, and closing the loop on response time until the result genuinely feels good to use. This is hands-on work: you'll prototype early hardware, prove out feel and timing, and shape the final shipping experience alongside product and industrial design teams.
The role calls for at least five years of microcontroller firmware experience with demonstrated motor or actuator control work that shipped. You should be comfortable with the bench (scopes, logic analyzers, I²C/SPI/I²S traffic), know Python or another scripting language for measurement automation, and have a strong instinct for what makes haptics feel right. Bonus experience in DSP, RTOS, low-power design, or consumer haptics systems would strengthen your candidacy.
This is a full-time, in-office position in San Jose with a base salary range of $120,000–$300,000, depending on experience and skills. It suits someone who cares about craft—who thinks about how things feel and wants to shape that experience from firmware through to the user's hand.
This role's local market on JobMinglr
Pay for this role
$120,000 to $300,000 per year
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