System Test & Validation Engineer

<p><strong>About Hark</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>About the Role</strong></p> <p>We are looking for a hands-on System Validation Engineer to join our growing team. In this role, you will be a key contributor in our hardware lab, rigorously characterizing our system's performance, flagging issues early, and building the automated test infrastructure that will help us scale.</p> <p>As a System Validation Engineer, you will be the critical bridge between our hardware and software. You will champion the end-user experience by ensuring our systems work flawlessly together.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Responsibilities</strong></p> <ul> <li>Define, measure, and document key system performance metrics, with a strong focus on power consumption, system latency, and overall stability.</li> <li>Rigorously test iterative hardware and software releases, tracking regressions and validating performance improvements over time.</li> <li>Ensure Hark's hardware designs integrate seamlessly with software. Proactively test real-world use cases to identify, expose, and document system-level bottlenecks before they reach the user.</li> <li>Design, build, and maintain automated test setups to streamline repetitive testing processes, improve reliability, and increase overall test coverage.</li> <li>Meticulously track and document bugs. Work closely with the design team to triage issues, diagnose root causes at the system level, and verify fixes.</li> <li>Partner effectively with diverse teams across the company—including Wireless, Audio, and UX—to validate holistic system performance and ensure product excellence.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Requirements</strong></p> <ul> <li>Proven hands-on experience in system-level hardware/software validation. You must be comfortable profiling power, diagnosing latency bottlenecks, and troubleshooting complex system interactions.</li> <li>Comfortable reading and working with hardware schematics. Hands on with common hardware lab tools. Working knowledge with Qualcomm chipsets and platforms.&nbsp;</li> <li>Solid background in firmware bring-up and experience working within RTOS, Linux, or Android environments.</li> <li>Strong programming skills in Python, C++, or LabVIEW. You should be able to write scripts to control standard laboratory test equipment, and/or build simple test jigs.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p><strong>Bonus Qualifications</strong></p> <ul> <li>Expertise in one of the following subsystems: camera and optical sensor, capacitive sensor, audio, wireless.</li> <li>Familiarity with Agile development processes, bug tracking tools (e.g., Jira), and version control.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Compensation</strong></p> <p><span data-sheets-root="1">The US base salary range for this full-time position is between $120,000 - $300,000 annually.</span></p> <p>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.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>