Senior Compliance Engineer

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.

For this high functioning team, the nature of the work benefits from frequent in-office presence, and employees may be expected to work from a company office up to four days per week. While we remain committed to flexibility, this team's rhythm includes regular in-person connection to support collaboration, learning, and impact.

The Legal Department provides core legal support to all Dolby functions, runs several IP-centric businesses, and leads government relations.

Based out of our San Francisco headquarters, and reporting to the Forensic Engineering Manager, the Senior Compliance Engineer is a key member of the technical team responsible for global compliance and enforcement. The role works closely with the IP Protection group to promote compliance and help prevent licensing and trademark infringement in the market. Responsibilities include strategic analysis of available information, guiding field audits and enforcement activities, and serving as a technical resource across the broader IPP organization and external partners.

Essential Job Functions:

Product Testing and Analysis

• Test consumer electronics, mobile devices, PCs, automotive infotainment systems, broadcast equipment, and software for use of Dolby technologies and potential infringement.
• Conduct detailed forensic analysis, including teardown, component identification, signal-flow tracing, and multimedia framework evaluation.
• Analyze Android and iOS devices and applications for compliance with Dolby technology requirements and ecosystem standards.
• Lead cross-functional investigations into suspected infringement, coordinating with engineering, legal, compliance, and external partners.
• Research, identify, procure, and test samples to detect infringement, validate technology usage, and gather intelligence.
• Use AI-assisted tools to support product classification, metadata extraction, pattern detection, and large-scale data review.

Audit Support

• Pre-audit analysis:
  Conduct strategic product and technology reviews of licensees and related entities, including cross-sales diligence and ecosystem mapping.
• Provide in-person and remote technical support during audit fieldwork, including product verification, sample and specification testing, and technical guidance to auditors.
• Post-audit analysis:
  Perform detailed product testing and technology assessments to support negotiation, enforcement actions, and remediation planning.
• Identify and implement process improvements, including automation opportunities, to improve accuracy, scalability, and efficiency across global compliance workflows.
• Use AI-enabled data analysis to identify trends, anomalies, and systemic non-compliance across product categories and markets.

Technical Leadership and Cross-Functional Enablement

• Serve as a senior technical resource across the IPP organization, providing expertise on Dolby technologies, product architectures, and compliance risks.
• Train compliance and audit personnel on Dolby technologies, forensic testing methodologies, and AI-assisted analysis tools.
• Support the development of team members through mentoring and technical review, as needed.
• Support litigation activities related to technology and product analysis when required.
• Collaborate with global compliance teams, auditors, and external partners to support consistent and effective enforcement practices.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.
• Five or more years of experience in reverse engineering, compliance engineering, failure investigation, or intellectual property protection.
• Strong working knowledge of audio codecs, multimedia frameworks, and consumer electronics architectures.
• Experience with product teardown, hardware analysis, and identification of key electrical components.
• Experience using scripting or automation tools (e.g., Python) to streamline analysis.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted analysis tools or demonstrated ability to adopt AI-driven workflows.
• Strong analytical skills, including experience with data analysis, trend identification, and large-scale information review.
• Ability to work independently across multiple projects with geographically distributed teams and communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to travel internationally on an occasional basis.

Preferred…