Operating System Architect

<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&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>We're looking for a Principal Embedded OS Architect to own the operating system strategy and software architecture across our consumer electronics portfolio, from early architecture through mass production.&nbsp; You'll be the technical leader responsible for defining how our embedded software stacks are structured, how they scale across product lines, and how they perform.&nbsp; This role spans hands-on systems engineering up through strategic technical leadership and team build-out — you'll shape architecture decisions while staying close to the code and the hardware.&nbsp; Partner closely with hardware, firmware, applications, and program management teams to drive alignment from NPI through sustained production.</p> <p><strong>Responsibilities</strong></p> <ul> <li>Define and evolve the embedded operating system architecture and platform strategy across the product portfolio</li> <li>Navigate tradeoffs across performance, power, schedule, and scalability, while ensuring&nbsp; rock-solid product dependability</li> <li>Lead cross-functional software teams through full product lifecycles — from NPI bring-up and proto builds, validation build milestones through production ramp and sustaining engineering</li> <li>Drive technical decisions across every layer of the stack (BSP, kernel, middleware, services, application frameworks) with a focus on creating an AI-first platform foundation</li> <li>Establish architectural standards, design review processes, and technical roadmaps that enable the team to ship on time without accumulating structural debt</li> </ul> <p><strong>Requirements</strong></p> <ul> <li>10+ years of experience in embedded systems software with at least 5 years in a principal or staff-level architecture role, shipping consumer electronics products at scale</li> <li>Deep expertise in embedded operating systems (e.g., embedded Linux, RTOS, or custom OS stacks) including kernel internals, memory management, scheduler tuning, driver frameworks, and boot architecture</li> <li>Demonstrated track record of leading engineering teams through complete NPI-to-production cycles, with hands-on involvement across BSP, middleware, and application layers.</li> <li>Strong command of system-level performance optimization, power management strategies, and architecture patterns that scale across a multi-product portfolio.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Bonus Qualifications</strong></p> <ul> <li>Experience shipping product solutions including on-board AI models leveraging hardware acceleration</li> <li>Experience defining OS platform strategy across a family of products with varying compute, connectivity, and cost profiles</li> <li>Familiarity with secure boot chains, OTA update frameworks, and production provisioning workflows for high-volume manufacturing</li> <li>Background in contributing to or integrating open-source embedded projects (Yocto/OpenEmbedded, Zephyr, Android Open Source, etc.)</li> <li>Experience with hardware/software co-design, including partnering with silicon teams on SoC selection and custom peripheral integration</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>