Senior R&D Engineer, Embedded Hardware

Location: Hong Kong / Remote
Type: Full Time
Reports to: VP of Platform

The Role

We're seeking an exceptional R&D engineering leader to join our fast-growing Nex Playground hardware team to improve our current products, explore emerging hardware technologies, and establish technical direction that shapes our future roadmap. Your primary focus will be pushing the boundaries of what's possible across the full hardware stack—SoC platforms, cameras and optics, sensors, I/O devices, and other critical subsystems. You'll scout and evaluate cutting-edge technologies, engage deeply with vendors and developer kits, design experiments to map performance limits, build proof-of-concepts, and translate technical possibilities into product specifications. You'll also investigate field issues to improve current products and inform smarter future decisions, ensuring we learn from real-world use while advancing our technology roadmap.

The Mindset

You’re insatiably curious and hands‑on. You are energized by solving very difficult problems. You love exploring new technologies, building things end‑to‑end, and explaining how they work. You think creatively, critique rigorously, and test methodically. You care about purpose and want your skills to improve people’s lives.

What You'll Do

• Scout, evaluate, and document emerging hardware technologies to build team knowledge and capability.
• Source, set up, and assess developer kits; engage with vendors to unlock technical depth.
• Analysis field problems seeking both immediate and ultimate improvements.
• Design and run experiments for reliability, performance, thermals, power, camera optics, and latency; analyze and present results.
• Prototype novel architectures and features to demonstrate feasibility and inform product decisions.
• Develop, adapt, and optimize low‑level drivers, HALs, and firmware.
• Contribute to accessories, motion‑tracking technologies, and the Playground OS.
• Contribute to the requirements and architecture for future hardware.
• Provide technical guidance on hardware strategy, risks, and trade‑offs.

Must Have

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, or related field.
• A strong track record of building embedded systems / personal devices / home entertainment devices on Android (AOSP).
• Deep knowledge of Android/Linux internals, drivers, HALs, system debugging, and performance optimization.
• Proficiency in C and Python.
• Excellent communication in English and Mandarin Chinese.

Nice To Have

• Domain knowledge of Arm architectures and SoC bring‑up.
• Experience deploying ML applications at the edge (e.g., quantization, acceleration, pipelines).
• Experience in camera sensors, lens optics, and ISPs.
• Experience on non-vision sensors such as IMU, ToF, and environmental.
• Hardware prototyping across ME/EE (schematics, PCB bring‑up, rapid prototyping).
• Strong portfolio of shipped or personal hardware projects.
• Empathy, product intuition, and user‑centric thinking.