Audio Consultant Engineer - Linux Audio Stack (Remote/Anywhere)
\n What You'll Actually Do Upstream & Community Participation: Contribute to and collaborate with WirePlumber, PipeWire, and ALSA upstream communities Real-World Impact: Design, integrate, and ship embedded Linux audio systems that work reliably in real-world products Deep Technical Work: Implement and debug PipeWire + WirePlumber stacks, including ALSA, DSPs, and system-level interactions Customer Collaboration: Work directly with customer teams to translate requirements into robust audio architectures and solutions Breadth When Needed: Support adjacent areas like Bluetooth audio and Linux audio tooling when required (pw-cli, pw-top, alsa-utils, tracing frameworks) to diagnose and resolve issues efficiently Be a Technical Advisor: Explain complex audio architecture decisions to product teams, provide honest assessments of what is and isn't possible and build trust through transparent communication
What We're Looking For
Required: Strong hands-on experience with the Linux audio stack (PipeWire, WirePlumber, ALSA) Strong proficiency in C and systems-level programming Solid understanding of core audio concepts (latency, formats, synchronization, buffering, resampling) Proven ability to debug complex issues across multiple layers of a Linux system Comfortable working directly with customers in a consulting or support capacity Strong communication skills, both written and verbal Nice to Have: Experience with ALSA kernel driver development Familiarity with Rust Exposure to Bluetooth audio (A2DP, HFP, LE Audio) Basic understanding of DSP concepts, such as signal flow, filtering, and common processing blocks (e.g. echo cancellation, noise suppression, beamforming) Contributions to relevant open-source projects Experience with embedded or real-time Linux systems
What We Offer
Compensation & Benefits We offer a competitive benefits package tailored to each country in which we have employees, plus a core global benefit offering accessible to all Collaborans. Our core benefits include: Competitive salary based on experience and location Office setup budget Sabbatical/Retention of Services - after five years of continuous service Co-working policy - support for working outside home Wellness assessments - biannual wellbeing assessments with a trained mental health specialist Conference attendance - we cover expenses and encourage speaking opportunities Open source time - contribute to projects you care about
Work Environment
Fully remote - work where you’re most productive Global team - engineers across Europe, Americas and Asia No on-call rotations - this isn't support work Sustainable pace - we're here for the long term Flexible hours - manage your own schedule Growth & Impact Upstream contributions - your work shapes Linux, not just client products Technical leadership track - path to principal engineer, subsystem expertise or technical architecture roles Consulting track - develop deeper client relationships, lead customer engagements or shape service offerings Mentorship opportunities - both receiving and providing guidance Conference speaking - we support presentation submissions and provide coaching Recognition - your contributions are public, building your professional reputation Culture & Values Upstream first - we believe the best solutions benefit everyone Transparency - open discussion about technical decisions, business constraints and project challenges Pragmatism - perfect is the enemy of good; we ship quality code that solves real problems Respect for expertise - we trust engineers to make technical decisions Collaborative - we succeed by working together, internally and with the community Sustainable pace - we're here for the marathon, not the sprint Our Interview Process We respect your time and provide a clear, structured process: Application Review (within 2 weeks) - we look at your code and contributions Initial Chat (30 min) - casual conversation about your experience and our work Technical Interview (2 - 3h) Technical Deep-Dive - discuss kernel architecture, past debugging challenges and how you approach problem-solving (no whiteboard coding) Code Review Session - review real patches together, discuss trade-offs Client Scenario Discussion - talk through a realistic customer situation: balancing technical debt, timeline pressure and upstream goals (we want to see your thought process, not a "right answer") Chief Operating Officer (60 min) - meet the Chief Operating Officer, ask about day-to-day work and how Collabora works, discuss compensation and benefits. Offer (within 1 week of final interview) Total timeline: 3-4 weeks from application to offer We provide feedback at every stage, and you'll always know where you stand. Collabora's Commitment We're committed to building a diverse team and inclusive environment. We encourage applications from people underrepresented in tech. We evaluate candidates based on skills and contributions, not pedigree. If you're unsure whether you qualify, apply anyway - imposter syndrome is real and you might be exactly who we're looking for. \n Apply To This Job