Bilingual Audio DSP Engineer for Voice… at Cinder Staffing · San Jose

Title: Bilingual Audio DSP Engineer for Voice AI

Pay Rate: $40-60/hr DOE

Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Location: San Jose, CA (onsite; travel between South Bay Area lab sites required)

Type: Temporary assignment (initial 3 months, with potential extensions based on progress, budget, and fit)

About Novus Labs

Novus Labs is our sibling company that provides engineering support to the largest tech companies in bringing some of the most innovative products to market.

About the Role

We are seeking a multilingual technical professional for an initial 3-month onsite assignment in San Jose, with potential for a long-term extension based on fit and business need. This hands-on role supports automotive audio and speech systems, embedded digital signal processing (DSP), acoustic measurement, vehicle and audio-lab test-bench readiness, software build updates, and data collection across multiple South Bay Area lab sites. The selected candidate will use Korean, Mandarin Chinese, or Japanese, along with English, to localize single- and multi-turn voice-assistant tests, review speech recordings, and document validation results. Based on performance and fit, the scope may expand into real-time DSP algorithm work, QNX Sound or Hexagon aDSP/cDSP firmware development, and ownership of acoustic measurement and calibration programs.

What you will be doing:

• Operate automotive hardware test benches and audio-lab equipment in hands-on lab and garage environments.
• Execute and localize single- and multi-turn voice-assistant test cases using native-speaker-quality pronunciation and accent.
• Review large audio-recording sets in Adobe Audition or Audacity and perform basic editing and signal processing, including normalization, for test-automation pipelines.
• Support QNX Sound stack issues and automotive hardware lab maintenance, including audio-subsystem firmware updates and test-equipment calibration.
• Collect vehicle data in laboratory and on-road driving conditions.
• Maintain vehicle fleet readiness through basic upkeep, inspections, and readiness checks.
• Support engineers with vehicle software updates, build changes, and firmware flashing.
• Build, wire, and maintain test rigs, cabling, and related lab infrastructure.
• Use mechanical and electrical tools, including screwdrivers, multimeters, soldering irons, and crimpers, to bring up, repair, and modify equipment.
• Work directly with circuit boards, single-board computers such as Raspberry Pi, development boards, switches, routers, and network cabling.
• Log and track defects in JIRA or a similar system with clear severity, priority, and reproduction steps.
• Prepare clear status and validation reports for the required audience using provided templates.
• Coordinate work across multiple South Bay Area lab sites and drive vehicles between locations as needed.
• Learn unfamiliar hardware and software quickly and take on new technical challenges.

About You

You combine audio, speech, or embedded DSP experience with a working knowledge of acoustics and fluency in English and Korean, Mandarin Chinese, or Japanese. You can conduct conversational voice testing with native-speaker-quality pronunciation and work confidently with audio-lab equipment, vehicle test benches, circuit boards, and embedded hardware in a multi-site environment.

Required Qualifications:

• Fluency in spoken and written English and Korean, Mandarin Chinese, or Japanese.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a signal-processing-related field, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• At least 1 year of experience with audio, speech, or embedded DSP work, or demonstrated competence through digital signal processing coursework or projects.
• Working knowledge of audio and acoustics fundamentals, including acoustic measurement, microphones, transducers, and speech and audio signal behavior.
• Ability to operate audio-lab equipment and automotive hardware test benches and work hands-on in a lab or garage environment.
• Ability to run single- and multi-turn voice test cases with native-speaker-quality pronunciation and accent.
• Ability to review, edit, and normalize large audio-recording sets using Adobe Audition, Audacity, or comparable audio tools.
• Comfort supporting QNX Sound architecture and maintaining automotive hardware labs, including firmware updates and test-equipment calibration.
• Working knowledge of JIRA or a similar issue-tracking system for documenting defects, severity, priority, and reproduction steps.
• Hands-on experience using mechanical and electrical tools for equipment bring-up, repair, and modification.
• Ability to build and wire test rigs and work with circuit boards, single-board computers, development boards, and networking hardware.
• Valid driver's license and flexibility to work across multiple South Bay Area lab sites and drive vehicles between locations.
• Valid passport with no travel restrictions, eligibility to obtain business travel visas for China, Japan, and South Korea, and ability to travel internationally and re-enter the United States without restriction.
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally without restriction if selected for the Mandarin-speaking track supporting in-market audio and acoustics work.
• Candidates working under Curricular Practical Training (CPT) are not eligible for this role.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience developing or debugging DSP algorithms for embedded or real-time systems using C, Python, or MATLAB.
• Familiarity with audio signal processing concepts, including noise reduction, voice pickup, speech enhancement, and microphone arrays.
• Experience performing acoustics or acoustic measurements with microphones, audio transducers, and audio-lab test equipment.
• Experience testing or validating voice-assistant text-to-speech (TTS) and automatic speech recognition (ASR) platforms.
• Familiarity with open-weight speech models for text-to-speech (TTS) and speech-to-text (STT).
• Familiarity with third-party TTS platforms, including commercial or open-source voice-synthesis providers.
• Familiarity with cloud-based TTS services.
• Experience working effectively with cross-functional teams across multiple sites.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the US. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment Visas.

About Cinder

Cinder is a people-first staffing and recruiting company committed to creating workplaces where employees feel valued, supported, and engaged. Our mission is to leverage our power as a recruiting and consulting company to build workplaces where people thrive. Backed by our ISO 9001 certification, we deliver high-quality staffing solutions, and our clients have rated us over 100% for multiple quarters. Join us and be part of a team that makes a real impact!