Job Description

Facebook's mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Through our family of apps and services, we're building a different kind of company that connects billions of people around the world, gives them ways to share what matters most to them, and helps bring people closer together. Whether we're creating new products or helping a small business expand its reach, people at Facebook are builders at heart. Our global teams are constantly iterating, solving problems, and working together to empower people around the world to build community and connect in meaningful ways. Together, we can help people build stronger communities - we're just getting started.

As a Manager, Hardware System Architect at Facebook Reality Labs Research, you will lead architecture for emerging AR/VR prototypes, help drive the overall research strategy and roadmap, and be a part of the teams designing, building, and testing novel AR/VR experiences unlocked by these technologies. We want people who: work well in teams, can brainstorm big ideas, work in new technology areas, thrive in ambiguity, able to map trade-spaces, able to drive a concept into a prototype, and can envision how a prototype could transition into a high-volume consumer product. The Facebook Reality Labs Research Hardware System Architect will lead the definition and convergence of complex and novel sub-system architectures, with an emphasis on integration of these sub-systems into state-of-the-art consumer AR/VR/Wearable systems. Prototypes may include new sensing systems, display/optics systems, input devices, or may be full AR/VR headsets.

The role requires expert technical communication with cross-functional teams across research, core technology groups, ID, hardware engineering, and partnerships to drive incubation of new technologies from paper analysis to proof of concept, with an emphasis on future product integration. This role requires excellent technical understanding of consumer electronics and AR/VR/Wearable reality systems across the stack. Starting with a broad engineering background in electrical, mechanical, optics, silicon, or related fields, we’re looking for a unique system designer or architect. The ideal candidate would have strong systems skills, previous roles driving architecture convergence on complex consumer electronics products, and experience with SoC evaluation, optical systems, sensors, CV algorithms, software, and be able to work collaboratively with experts in different fields to make architectural tradeoffs.

Responsibilities

• Manage a team of researchers with diverse backgrounds focused on rapid prototyping and evaluation of complex sub-systems
• Own sub-system architectures encompassing sensors, algorithms, optics, EE, ME, calibration, and firmware from initial conception to Proof of Concept prototypes to tech transfer to emerging products
• Jointly optimize hardware and algorithms to deliver inconspicuous, accurate, and robust subsystems
• Create hardware system metrics, standards and tools
• Create proof-of-concept physical prototypes
• Communicate research and POC development strategy effectively to both internal and external stakeholders
• Work with product architects for roadmap products, communicate trade-offs, program concerns and technical direction
• Drive the technical scoping and development of new technologies to deliver generation defining user experiences for future products on the roadmap
• Conduct detailed analysis and trade-off studies for complex systems
• Engage with technology project leads and various component SMEs to identify optimal integration strategies in emerging products
• Work with product and research teams to resolve ambiguous requirements, then prioritize solutions that meet current and future needs
• Guide management & partner teams on long term technology investments
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams on blank-slate and early-phase prototyping, mapping it to strategic and product questions which need to be resolved
• Drive development of system requirements to create new augmented/virtual reality experiences, and help advance technology and research roadmaps
  

Minimum Qualification

• 10+ years of experience with systems prototyping, including both hardware and software
• Experience with architecture and systems engineering across optical, electrical, mechanical, firmware, and software systems
• Experience integrating and delivering one or more of these technologies: sensors, optics, silicon, ultrasound
• Experience in rapid prototyping and creating proof of concept models to share ideas and improve architectural decisions
• Communication experience working with Researchers, Product Development engineers, Product Managers and other hardware/software cross-functional teams
• Experience working with partnerships teams and external partners at both a research and development level
  

Preferred Qualification

• PhD in Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Math other related technical field or equivalent experience
• Experience in firmware development, programming, computer vision, OS, game development, and complex sensing systems
• Experience modeling system power, and using those models to inform trade-offs against key architectural decisions (e.g. battery life, thermals, silicon roadmaps, power load profiles)
• Experience with Virtual/Augmented reality or systems aimed at capturing/processing/delivering audio visual, IMU or other positional data streams
• Experience creating system models to analyze system compute, latency and communication interface bandwidths
• Experience integrating multiple subsystems within a heterogeneous compute environment in order to define the system architecture to meet overall goals of the prototype definition
• Knowledge of sensor systems, including interfaces, optical, sensors, modules, ISP and algorithm fundamentals, CV/ML
• Working knowledge of machine learning (DNN, CNN, RNN)
• Experience with influencing silicon vendors roadmaps and SOC features sets with emphasis on using advanced IP in the realms of Machine Learning and Imaging
  

Facebook is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Facebook is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let us know at accommodations-ext@fb.com.