Sr. Applications Engineer, San Francisco

SENIOR MACHINE VISION APPLICATIONS ENGINEER - San Francisco, CA · Applications · Full-time, in office - Compensation: 150K - 190K, plus annual performance bonus up to 20% - Travel: Up to 50%, typically lower.   ABOUT OVERVIEW.AI Overview.ai is bringing cutting-edge AI computer vision to manufacturing, solving inspection problems that were previously not solvable with traditional machine vision. We're a full-stack company: we deploy GPU-powered cameras on production lines, run inference on the edge, and operate a platform that supports large fleets of devices deployed worldwide. We're growing extremely fast. Our customers love the product because it works: high accuracy, fast deployment, and an operator-friendly experience that makes real factory rollouts possible, not just pilots.   THE OPPORTUNITY We're looking for an experienced Machine Vision Applications Engineer to own complex vision applications from initial feasibility through production deployment. You'll be our go-to technical expert for optics, lighting, image acquisition, and inspection performance, working hands-on in our San Francisco lab and directly with customers on real manufacturing challenges. This isn't a purely research or advisory role. You'll build vision systems, evaluate hardware, lead proof-of-concept testing, troubleshoot difficult inspection problems, and make technical recommendations that directly influence customer deployments and product development. We're looking for someone who has already solved challenging machine vision problems in industrial environments and wants to apply that expertise to the next generation of AI-powered inspection.   WHY THIS ROLE IS EXCITING - Own complex vision challenges: Lead the technical approach for applications where optics, lighting, image quality, and inspection reliability make the difference. - Be the vision expert: Serve as a technical resource for Applications, Sales, Product, and Engineering. - Shape our technology: Your evaluations and findings will directly influence hardware decisions, application development, and deployment strategies. - Bridge traditional and AI vision: Apply deep machine vision fundamentals to inspection problems that conventional systems struggle to solve. - Stay hands-on: Work directly with cameras, lenses, lighting, real customer parts, and production environments.   WHAT YOU'LL OWN - Advanced vision application development: Lead feasibility studies, proof-of-concept testing, and technical validation for complex industrial inspection applications. - Optics and lighting design: Select, configure, and optimize cameras, lenses, lighting, filters, and optical components for challenging inspection requirements. - Technical ownership of the SF lab: Drive vision experimentation, testing standards, hardware evaluation, and application development. - Inspection performance optimization: Troubleshoot image quality, environmental variability, false rejects, missed defects, and inspection consistency. - AI vision workflows: Work with image collection, labeling, model training, and evaluation to optimize AI-based inspection performance. - Customer application support: Partner with customers and field teams to troubleshoot vision challenges and ensure successful deployment on production lines. - Technology evaluation: Assess emerging vision technologies and recommend improvements to our hardware and inspection capabilities. - Technical leadership: Mentor less experienced engineers, establish best practices, and provide technical guidance across teams. - Cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with Product and Engineering to translate application challenges into product improvements.   WHO YOU ARE Required - 5+ years of hands-on experience in industrial machine vision, vision applications engineering, or optical inspection systems. - Deep understanding of machine vision fundamentals, including optics, lenses, lighting, sensors, image acquisition, and camera configuration. - Proven experience designing, building, and optimizing industrial vision systems for real manufacturing applications. - Strong understanding of lens selection, field of view, working distance, depth of field, resolution, and optical trade-offs. - Experience with advanced lighting techniques and solving challenging image acquisition problems. - Demonstrated ability to independently lead vision feasibility studies and proof-of-concept projects. - Experience troubleshooting inspection performance in production environments. - Familiarity with traditional machine vision tools and inspection techniques. - Working knowledge of AI-based vision, including classification, object detection, segmentation, and model evaluation. - Strong technical communication skills, including documenting findings and explaining technical trade-offs to customers and internal teams. - Comfortable working directly with hardware, running experiments, and solving problems independently. - Based in the San Francisco Bay Area and able to work primarily from our SF office.   Strong Preferences - Experience with deep learning-based industrial inspection. - Familiarity with telecentric optics, advanced lighting configurations, and precision inspection. - Experience with high-speed production lines, challenging defect detection, or variable manufacturing environments. - Exposure to PLCs, industrial automation, triggering, and production-line integration. - Experience working directly with manufacturing customers. - Experience mentoring engineers or serving as a technical subject matter expert.   WHY OVERVIEW.AI - Extreme growth and real-world impact: We're not just building demos. We're deploying AI systems on real production lines, at scale. - Talent density: Work alongside world-class engineers across AI, embedded systems, and enterprise deployment. - Front-row seat to AI in manufacturing: Help shape how manufacturers adopt the next generation of inspection technology. - Technical ownership: Your expertise will influence real engineering decisions and customer outcomes. - Global exposure: Solve challenging applications for some of the world's most advanced manufacturers.