Senior Audio - Voice Processing & Environmental Test Engineer

Apple's Hardware group is home to some of the world's most advanced technologies - powering the experiences that define Apple products.

Description
We are looking for a highly skilled Senior Audio - Voice Processing & Environmental Test Engineer to join our team in Herzliya.","responsibilities":"Test and validate the performance and tuning of core voice processing blocks
Execute validation under diverse acoustic conditions, speaker configurations, and signal scenarios
Collaborate with algorithm teams to provide data-driven feedback for tuning and optimization
Conduct objective voice quality assessments using standardized metrics, including POLQA (ITU-T P.863) and PESQ (ITU-T P.862)
Organize and manage subjective "golden ear" listening panels to assess voice naturalness, intelligibility, and overall quality
Define evaluation criteria and scoring methodologies aligned with industry standards and internal quality benchmarks
Design and execute WER-based testing for scenarios involving voice transcription and speech recognition
Correlate WER results with upstream audio processing quality to identify degradation sources
Conduct testing in specialized laboratories that replicate real-world acoustic scenarios, including: Moving vehicles ,Noisy public environments - cafés, restaurants, crowded spacesWindy outdoor settings and Combined environmental stressors
Measure and track Time to First Word (TTFW) and round-trip audio latency
Establish performance baselines and monitoring frameworks for continuous tracking across firmware and software iterations
Design and maintain automated test suites to detect audio artifacts - including glitches, pops, clicks, distortions, and dropouts
Build regression frameworks that validate audio quality across new firmware and software updates

Preferred Qualifications
MSc in Acoustics, Audio Signal Processing, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline - considered a significant advantage
Experience with speech recognition systems and WER evaluation methodologies
Background in psychoacoustics or subjective audio evaluation research
Experience with environmental simulation lab design and commissioning
Knowledge of ITU-T P-series recommendations and ETSI test specifications

Minimum Qualifications
BSc in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Acoustics, Audio Engineering, or a related field
7+ years of experience in audio testing, voice quality evaluation, or acoustic system validation
Proven experience working within or alongside professional audio/acoustic test laboratories
Demonstrated ability to design repeatable, controlled test environments and methodologies
Experience with both objective measurement tools and subjective listening evaluation protocols
Strong system-level understanding with the ability to isolate quality issues to specific processing stages
Deep understanding of audio signal processing fundamentals - frequency domain analysis, filtering, spectral characteristics, and time-domain behavior
Hands-on experience with voice quality measurement tools and standards (POLQA, PESQ, 3QUEST, ETSI standards)
Familiarity with HEAD acoustic test equipment - measurement microphones, artificial heads (HATS), mouth simulators, and anechoic/semi-anechoic chamber setups
Strong proficiency in Python for test automation, data analysis, audio signal processing, and framework development
Experience with audio acquisition systems, DACs/ADCs, and real-time audio streaming architectures
Understanding of latency measurement methodologies in real-time audio systems