Software Engineer (Embedded Systems)

Overview

We are building the next generation of hearing-test technology that has the potential to transform how patients first gain access to care worldwide, enabling earlier diagnoses for the 7 million people who develop hearing loss each year.

We recently closed our first funding round and are now looking to grow our team to support trialling and market launch.

As part of our small and dynamic team, you will contribute to the technical design, implementation, testing, and deployment of our transformational hearing test, and you will see your contributions rolled out worldwide, positively impacting millions of individuals each year.

Technology

Our test uses a spatial paradigm, wherein the patient listens to spatially-localised sounds, simulated in real-time using headphones and inertial measurement sensors, and is instructed to turn their head to face towards the perceived sound direction. By analysing patient head movements, we can determine which sounds the patient actually heard, and we can do so with greater reliability than has been achievable to-date by previous test paradigms.

Our tech stack includes: C++17, Linux (development), Android (UI + business logic), ARM SoC (audio synthesis + sensor integration), flatbuffers, cmake, git, and Spack (package management).

About the Role

We're looking for a Software Engineer with a strong background in embedded systems to develop and maintain our real-time spatial sound simulation system. Your first project will be in transforming our existing C++17 user-space Linux application into firmware for our purpose-built embedded hardware platform.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Taking complete ownership of your project, from design to implementation, without any safety nets or fallbacks if you get stuck.
• Performing on-going maintenance and improvement.
• Establishing and maintaining our embedded toolchain and development environment.
• Independent learning and understanding of our existing systems and of all concepts relevant to your project.
• Self management, reporting on a flexible basis to discuss status and directions.

Salary

Salary is between £25k and £45k, depending upon ability and experience.

About you

We're looking for a motivated and creative individual who is excited to work and contribute to a team that faces dynamically evolving technical challenges, requiring rapid independent learning and skill development. You must have a genuine passion for software engineering and be able to tell us of your adventures from previous projects (need not be professional or formal projects).

Skillset:

• Strong ability and experience in software engineering using modern C++ (C++11 and later).
• Complete familiarity of C.
• Strong skillset and experience in embedded systems.
• Excellent self-organisation, time-management, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills.
• Strong ability to work independently.
• Strong ability to own problems and take initiative in finding solutions.
• Familiarity in developing in a Linux environment.

About Hearing Loss

Hearing loss can have an immensely negative impact on an individual’s life, putting those who are affected at risk of becoming socially isolated, suffering from depression and anxiety, and developing dementia prematurely.

Providing access to care (hearing aids) can prevent these comorbidities, but it needs to be provided early. Screening tests act as the gatekeeper for providing this care, but existing tests are notoriously unreliable, leaving as many as 2 out of 10 patients with the wrong diagnosis.

We have developed a more reliable test and our vision is to now make hearing testing as commonplace and accessible as eye testing, ensuring that everyone in need receives care at the earliest possible opportunity.

Additional Information

We're embracing the remote-working culture and will need you to be committed to working from home for at least the next 12 months. You are welcome to live and work from anywhere within the UK, and will not be required to relocate, even after the pandemic ends.

How to apply

Please send your CV and cover letter to Colin Horne (colin@hdiags.co.uk), showcasing as many of your previous projects as possible. Where your previous projects were undertaken as part of a wider team, please describe your individual role and contributions. Don't hold back on the technical details: we want to know about the challenges and how you overcame them with ingenious and elegant solutions! We want to see that you like to get your hands dirty and that you throw yourself into projects with a passion.