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Senior Sound Designer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Principal Sound Designer

Santa Monica, CA · On-site

$140K - $160K/yr

Core Qualifications * 8+ years of professional experience in the games industry as a sound designer, with some senior experience on shipped AAA titles. * Proven track record of owning and delivering ...

Senior CMF Designer

Long Beach, CA

$107K - $114K/yr

Vast is looking for a Senior Color, Material, and Finish Designer , reporting to the Senior Manager ... Excellent judgment and ability to make sound decisions independently with limited or ambiguous ...

Senior Visual Designer - Mobile Apps Location: Carlsbad, CA / Owings Mills, MD Position Overview ... Each brand boasts its own philosophy and unique approach to bringing sound and home entertainment ...

Your Role at Pivot As a Senior Designer, you will be responsible for applying Pivot's creative ... sound decisions in short timeframes with appropriate action. * Mentor and train design team members.

Sr. Designer

San Jose, CA · On-site

$118K - $126K/yr

Your Role at Pivot As a Senior Designer, you will be responsible for applying Pivot's creative ... sound decisions in short timeframes with appropriate action. * Mentor and train design team members.

Sr. Designer

Los Angeles, CA

$109K - $117K/yr

Your Role at Pivot As a Senior Designer, you will be responsible for applying Pivot's creative ... sound decisions in short timeframes with appropriate action. * Mentor and train design team members.

Your Role at Pivot As a Senior Designer, you will be responsible for applying Pivot's creative ... sound decisions in short timeframes with appropriate action. * Mentor and train design team members.

Sr. Designer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$120K - $128K/yr

Your Role at Pivot As a Senior Designer, you will be responsible for applying Pivot's creative ... sound decisions in short timeframes with appropriate action. * Mentor and train design team members.

Your Role at Pivot As a Senior Designer, you will be responsible for applying Pivot's creative ... sound decisions in short timeframes with appropriate action. * Mentor and train design team members.

Sr. Designer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$45.44 - $61.49/hr

Your Role at Pivot As a Senior Designer, you will be responsible for applying Pivot's creative ... sound decisions in short timeframes with appropriate action. * Mentor and train design team members.

Sr. Designer

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$45.44 - $61.49/hr

Your Role at Pivot As a Senior Designer, you will be responsible for applying Pivot's creative ... sound decisions in short timeframes with appropriate action. * Mentor and train design team members.

Sr. Designer

Costa Mesa, CA · On-site

$90 - $120/hr

Your Role at Pivot As a Senior Designer, you will be responsible for applying Pivot's creative ... sound decisions in short timeframes with appropriate action. * Mentor and train design team members.

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Showing results 1-20

Senior Sound Designer information

See California salary details

$58.2K

$104.5K

$129.3K

How much do senior sound designer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 2, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior sound designer in California is $104,496.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $100,700.00 and $107,600.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a senior sound designer do?

A Senior Sound Designer is responsible for creating, editing, and implementing high-quality audio elements for various media, such as video games, films, or television. They lead projects, collaborate with other departments, and often mentor junior sound designers. Their work involves designing sound effects, ambient audio, and sometimes music to enhance the overall experience. Senior Sound Designers also ensure that the audio aligns with the creative vision and technical requirements of the project.

What are some common challenges senior sound designers face when working on large-scale projects?

Senior Sound Designers often encounter challenges such as managing tight deadlines while ensuring high audio quality, coordinating with cross-functional teams (like developers, composers, and producers), and maintaining consistency across vast amounts of audio assets. Balancing creative vision with technical limitations—such as memory constraints in games or broadcast requirements in film—can also be demanding. Effective communication and strong organizational skills are crucial for navigating these complexities and delivering impactful sound experiences.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior sound designer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Senior Sound Designer, you need expertise in audio engineering, sound editing, and music theory, typically supported by a degree in audio production or a related field and significant experience in sound design. Proficiency with digital audio workstations (DAWs) like Pro Tools, Logic Pro, and middleware such as Wwise or FMOD is essential, along with knowledge of audio post-production workflows. Strong creativity, collaboration, and communication skills help in translating project visions into compelling audio experiences and leading teams effectively. These skills are crucial for producing high-quality audio assets that enhance the storytelling and emotional impact in games, films, or other media projects.

What is the difference between Senior Sound Designer vs Sound Designer?

AspectSenior Sound DesignerSound Designer
CredentialsTypically requires 5+ years experience, portfolio, and sometimes specialized certificationsEntry to mid-level experience, portfolio often sufficient
Work EnvironmentLeads projects, mentors junior staff, collaborates with directorsExecutes sound design tasks, collaborates with team
Industry UsageUsed in larger studios, AAA game development, film, and high-end mediaCommon in indie projects, smaller studios, and initial project phases

Senior Sound Designers typically have more experience, leadership responsibilities, and work on complex projects, whereas Sound Designers focus on executing sound design tasks and building their skills. Both roles require strong audio skills, but the senior role involves more oversight and strategic input.

What are the most commonly searched types of Sound Designer jobs in California?

The most popular types of Sound Designer jobs in California are:

What are popular job titles related to Senior Sound Designer jobs in California?

For Senior Sound Designer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Senior Sound Designer jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Senior Sound Designer jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Senior Sound Designer jobs?

Cities in California with the most Senior Sound Designer job openings:

Infographic showing various Senior Sound Designer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 88% Full Time, 8% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 92% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 5% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $104,496 per year, or $50.2 per hour.

Sr Sound Designer at General Motors Sunnyvale, CA

Downtown Boulder Partnership

Sunnyvale, CA • On-site

$95 - $130/hr

Other

Posted yesterday

New


Job description

Sr Sound Designer job at General Motors. Sunnyvale, CA.Description

Work Arrangement: This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the successful candidate is expected to report to Sunnyvale, CA, Austin, TX, or Warren, MI three times per week, at minimum, or other frequency dictated by the business.

The Role

We are seeking a highly creative and technically skilledSound/ AudioDesignerto join our team at General Motors. This role will focus on developing and integrating innovativesoundexperiences across our portfolio of vehicles and brands. You will balance user needs, technical constraints, and product objectives to solve problems effectively, creating world-class multimodal user experiences. You will also participate in design-related forums and meetings, contributing to Global Brand Strategy boards for all GM Brands. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background insoundcreation and production, coupled with expertise in classical music, music theory, or musical history. Join us in shaping the future ofsoundand audio experiences in vehicles at General Motors!

What You'll Do

Develop an advancedsoundstrategy for the GM portfolio, collaborating with leadership to convert brand identities into musical language and frequency.

Collaborate with Advanced Design, UX/UI teams, and the Noise & Vibration (N&V) center to create a comprehensiveSoundJourney Map for vehicle audio. Integrate audio considerations into all areas of vehicle design and development.

Design AI-based conversational and multimodal experiences, advocatingfor usabilityand user-centered design principles. Leverage usability testing, various research methodologies, and user stories to contribute to requirements.

Utilize expertise insoundcreation/production tools (Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Matlab) to craft compelling audio experiences for all GM brands.

Promote conversation design best practice standards, reusable interactional patterns, and processes. Document design requirements, including sample dialogs, conversational flow diagrams, prototypes, and multimodal flows to communicate convey voice and haptic interactions and design ideas that leverage AI.

Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders to understand priorities, collaborate on actions to implement product and service solutions, and ensure a connected end-to-end user experience.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications):

5+ years of experience creating conversational design or automotive audio experiences.

Formal education in classical music, music theory, musical history, or commensurate work experience.

Proficient in common design tools(e.g.Figma,VoiceFlow,ProtoPie, etc).

Proven experience in sound design and production, with a portfolio demonstrating expertise, craft, aesthetics, research, and depth of thought.

Demonstrated experience with creatinginteractiveprototypesfor multimodalexperiences(voice, sound, visuals, touch, chat, etc).

Previous experience designing for Generative or Agentive AI-powered experiences (prompt engineering/prompt chaining). Basic understanding of machine learning & natural language processing (NLP) fundamentals.

Skilled in creative problem-solving, effective communication, and maintaining meticulous attention to detail while working independently in a dynamic production environment.

What Will Give You A Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

Advanced understanding of Conversational AI Technologies, foundational elements of Conversation Design and LLMs.

Proven demonstration of excellence in storytelling to executive audiences and cross-functional stakeholder groups. Ability to communicate technical concepts verbally and in writing to non-technical audiences.

Demonstrated subject matterexpertiseinresearch and testing for conversationalexperiences.

A portfolio that showcases subject matter expertise and ability to flexible support sound design, user experience design, and multimodal experiences.

Sponsorship: GM DOES NOT PROVIDE IMMIGRATION-RELATED SPONSORSHIP FOR THIS ROLE. DONOT APPLY FOR THIS ROLE IF YOU WILL NEED GM IMMIGRATION SPONSORSHIP (e.g., H-1B, TN,STEM OPT, etc.) NOW OR IN THE FUTURE.

About GM

Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion and we embrace the responsibility to lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all.

Why Join Us

We believe we all must make a choice every day – individually and collectively – to drive meaningful change through our words, our deeds and our culture. Every day, we want every employee to feel they belong to one General Motors team.

Total Rewards | Benefits Overview

From day one, we're looking out for your well-being–at work and at home–so you can focus on realizing your ambitions. Learn how GM supports a rewarding career that rewards you personally by visiting Total Rewards resources.

Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities (U.S.)

General Motors is committed to being a workplace that is not only free of unlawful discrimination, but one that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. We strongly believe that providing an inclusive workplace creates an environment in which our employees can thrive and develop better products for our customers.

All employment decisions are made on a non-discriminatory basis without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, disability, pregnancy or maternity status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran or protected veteran, or any other similarly protected status in accordance with federal, state and local laws.

We encourage interested candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications for each role and apply for any positions that match their skills and capabilities. Applicants in the recruitment process may be required, where applicable, to successfully complete a role-related assessment(s) and/or a pre-employment screening prior to beginning employment. To learn more, visit How we Hire.

Accommodations

General Motors offers opportunities to all job seekers including individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, email us Careers.Accommodations@GM.com or call us at 800-865-7580. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.

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