VP, Multi Modal Experiences

Join the leader in entertainment innovation and help us design the future. At Dolby, science meets art, and high tech means more than computer code. As a member of the Dolby team, you’ll see and hear the results of your work everywhere, from movie theaters to smartphones. We continue to revolutionize how people create, deliver, and enjoy entertainment worldwide. To do that, we need the absolute best talent. We’re big enough to give you all the resources you need, and small enough so you can make a real difference and earn recognition for your work. We offer a collegial culture, challenging projects, and excellent compensation and benefits, not to mention a Flex Work approach that is truly flexible to support where, when, and how you do your best work.

The Advanced Technology Group (ATG) is the research division of the company. ATG’s mission is to look ahead, deliver insights, and innovate technological solutions that will fuel Dolby’s continued growth. Our researchers have a broad range of expertise related to computer science and electrical engineering, such as AI/ML, algorithms, digital signal processing, audio engineering, image processing, computer vision, data science & analytics, distributed systems, cloud, edge & mobile computing, computer networking, and IoT.

We’re looking for a leader who is excited to advance the state of the art in technologies of interest to Dolby as well as the human society at large. Reporting directly to the head of ATG, you will lead a team of researchers driving Multimodal Experiences. A broad set of problems that need both short-term and long-term solutions to fall into this lab’s purview. Research in areas such as Augmented Reality, eXtended Reality, Virtual Reality, Alternate/Meta-Verses, Gaming, and other next-generation media and interactive experiences will be core to this lab.

This lab will need to leverage cross-media intelligence and analytics; leverage and invent multimodal machine learning algorithms; and utilize a further good understanding of multimodal perception, to solve technological problems. In addition to traditional DSP, Sound, and Image Processing tools, the lab should extensively leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning & data mining, and natural language processing tools and techniques.

What you’ll do

• Lead multiple research initiatives for ATG related to the lifecycle of immersive media that provides XR, X-Verse, collaborative, interactive, and immersive experiences. Includes the full lifecycle of technology management: capture, processing, rendering, creation, and perception of content.

• Develop long-term and short-term vision for the research initiatives and influence the global research leadership & related Business Groups

• Lead the strategy around multimodal research, evaluate the market landscape, and continuously evolve the technologies and capabilities of the lab

• Partner with ATG leadership in attracting, mentoring, and nurturing research talent in a wide variety of areas 

• Initiate new research projects: 

• Nurturing and influencing the bottom-up ideas of the researchers  

• Developing new personal areas of interest aligned with ATG goals

• Participate with global leadership of ATG in developing key priorities and overall global research portfolio

• Participate in promotions and career development process at the global ATG leadership level

• As a Multimodal Experiences expert, you will have a chance to lead/collaborate with other world-class researchers in the area and also in other areas and change the way humans experience sight and sound for the better, to make the experience more valuable, more immersive, and immensely more delightful.

What you need to succeed

Competencies

• Invent & Innovate: Lead and enable invention, innovation, and development of short and long-term technologies, algorithms, and software tools that will help make Dolby a world leader in enhancing the sight and sound associated with digital content consumption. Then influence and collaborate with BG partners to put the technology into production.

• Work with a sense of Urgency: Respond assertively to changing trends and new technologies, and lead the creation of new algorithms to capitalize on them. Take appropriate risks to be ahead of the competition and the market.

• Become a thought leader: Become the go-to person for multimodal experiences within ATG and across all engineering communities of Dolby’s business groups.  Develop deep expertise in areas to influence Dolby’s direction and ATG colleagues

• Collaborate: Collaborate with and influence peers in developing industry-leading technologies. Work with external trendsetters and technology drivers in academia and in partner enterprises.

Desired Background

• Visionary: Envisions short- and long-term opportunities. Respond aggressively to changing trends and new technologies and create plans to capitalize on them. Takes appropriate business risks. Makes intelligent decisions that balance a variety of factors (costs, competitive threats, etc.).

• Thought Leader: Is seen as an expert across the organization and throughout the industry. Promotes new ways of thinking. Highly influential. Is well-received and respected by executives, direct teams, cross-functional groups, customers, and partners.

• Nurturer/Mentor: Builds great teams around a focused mission. Translates overarching business goals into specific objectives for each member of the team. Able to collaborate, mobilize, and engage multiple stakeholder groups at different levels

• Demonstrated ability to take bold initiatives and the ability to solve hard problems, prioritize work, and make decisions

• Strong analytical, mathematical modeling, optimization, and software skills and ability to work with multiple levels of abstractions

• Excellent interpersonal & communication skills, including scientific writing, presenting, and formal briefings

• Experience in a research leadership role with team management responsibilities in an industrial research lab.

• Minimum 15+ years of experience in research or engineering.

• Ph.D., Signal Processing, Computer Science, or related areas Record of working with and influencing both technology and business leaders.

• Strong publication record in top-tier conferences or journals in one or multiple of the following areas:

  • Image and Audio processing

  • AR, VR, XR, and Gaming

  • Natural Language Processing

  • Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition

  • Decision Support Systems

  • Machine Learning and AI

  • Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery

  • Information Retrieval and Visualization

Ability to travel to San Francisco for business meetings 6-8 weeks per year and to accommodate occasional meetings during San Francisco business hours

The San Francisco/Bay Area base salary range for this full-time position is $310,100-$385,900, which can vary if outside this location, plus bonus, benefits, and some roles may also include equity. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, competencies, experience, market demands, internal parity, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range and perks and benefits for your location during the hiring process.

Dolby will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of San Francisco Police Code, Article 49, and Administrative Code, Article 12

Equal Employment Opportunity:
Dolby is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Our success depends on the combined skills and talents of all our employees. We are committed to making employment decisions without regard to race, religious creed, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, marital status, family status, medical condition, disability, military service, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions or any other classification protected by federal, state, and local laws and ordinances.