Operating System Architect

Location: San Jose

Department: Embedded Software

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 

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.  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.  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.  Partner closely with hardware, firmware, applications, and program management teams to drive alignment from NPI through sustained production.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the embedded operating system architecture and platform strategy across the product portfolio
• Navigate tradeoffs across performance, power, schedule, and scalability, while ensuring  rock-solid product dependability
• 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
• 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
• Establish architectural standards, design review processes, and technical roadmaps that enable the team to ship on time without accumulating structural debt

Requirements

• 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
• 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
• Demonstrated track record of leading engineering teams through complete NPI-to-production cycles, with hands-on involvement across BSP, middleware, and application layers.
• Strong command of system-level performance optimization, power management strategies, and architecture patterns that scale across a multi-product portfolio.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience shipping product solutions including on-board AI models leveraging hardware acceleration
• Experience defining OS platform strategy across a family of products with varying compute, connectivity, and cost profiles
• Familiarity with secure boot chains, OTA update frameworks, and production provisioning workflows for high-volume manufacturing
• Background in contributing to or integrating open-source embedded projects (Yocto/OpenEmbedded, Zephyr, Android Open Source, etc.)
• Experience with hardware/software co-design, including partnering with silicon teams on SoC selection and custom peripheral integration

Compensation

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.