Embedded ML Engineer – Gesture Recognition

Department: Hardware

Location: San Francisco, Bellevue

Compensation: $175K – $280K

Employment Type: FullTime

About Sesame

Sesame believes in a future where computers are lifelike - with the ability to see, hear, and collaborate with us in ways that feel natural and human. With this vision, we're designing a new kind of computer, focused on making voice agents part of our daily lives. Our team brings together founders from Oculus and Ubiquity6, alongside proven leaders from Meta, Google, and Apple, with deep expertise spanning hardware and software. Join us in shaping a future where computers truly come alive.

About the Role

We are seeking an engineer living at the intersection of embedded systems and ML to enable rich, reliable interactions on wearable devices. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working across the software stack, excited by the idea of taking a feature from the whiteboard to a product in customers’ hands. You’ll work closely with hardware, firmware, and product teams to make the interaction feel effortless and consistent for every user, in every environment.

Responsibilities:

• Design, train, and deploy algorithms for gesture detection on ultra-low-power embedded hardware.

• Evaluate and adapt larger ML models for running on mobile class hardware.

• Own the full development cycle: system design, data collection & curation, synthetic data generation, model training & evaluation, and on-device optimization.

• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and product teams to integrate algorithms with evolving hardware designs.

• Pick promising approaches from the literature to bet on, and create new approaches where necessary to achieve our unique goals.
  

Required Qualifications:

• 10 years of experience in Software Engineering, ML Research, or related fields.

• Experience working with a high degree of autonomy in ambiguous environments.

• Proven experience building and deploying ML algorithms on embedded or resource-constrained devices.

• Proficiency in Python and C/C++, with experience in frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.

• Hands-on experience with end-to-end ML workflows, from data capture to on-device deployment.

• Strong grasp of signal processing and/or time-series analysis for sensor data.

• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively across disciplines.

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in computer science, electrical engineering, machine learning, or related field.
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s / Ph.D. in a relevant field.

• Experience with wearables, IMUs, or tactile/force sensors.

• Familiarity with synthetic data generation and augmentation techniques.

• Experience in a startup or fast-moving product environment.

• Experience deploying models in products.

• Track record of optimizing algorithms for power, latency, and memory footprint.

Sesame is committed to a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered. We welcome all qualified applicants, embracing diversity in race, gender, identity, orientation, ability, and more. We provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. Contact [email protected] for assistance.

Full-time Employee Benefits: 

• 401 (k) max employer match: 3.5% of compensation

• 100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental benefits for you and your dependents

• Unlimited PTO and sick time

• Flexible spending account with employer matching up to $1,650/year (medical FSA)

• Guardian Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Opportunity to share in the company's success with competitive stock options

Benefits do not apply to contingent/contract workers.