AI/ML Engineer – Manufacturing Vision Inspection Systems

Toyota North America•Georgetown, KY

8d•Onsite

About The Position

Toyota’s Manufacturing Innovation and Transformation Department is looking for a passionate and highly motivated Engineer. Reporting to the Manufacturing Innovation Manager, this role leads end-to-end engineering and deployment of next-generation automated quality inspection systems for Toyota's North American manufacturing facilities, supporting the Production Engineering Division and SOAR Group's goal of improving manufacturing competitiveness.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering, Computer Science, IT, or related field.
2+ years in industrial machine vision and edge AI deployment.
3+ years of AI/ML experience with camera-based vision systems.
Experience managing the full model lifecycle: data collection, labeling, validation, rollout, monitoring, retraining.
Hands-on experience with containerization (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes).
Knowledge of ONNX Runtime, TensorRT, and embedded hardware optimization.
Willingness to work weekends, holidays, shutdowns, and multiple shifts as needed; up to 30% overtime.
Ability to travel up to 30% (US, Canada, Mexico, other manufacturing sites, and Japan).

Nice To Haves

Master's or advanced degree with a strong foundation in optical systems, computer vision, image processing, or AI automation.
Research background in optical physics (specular reflection, deflectometry, multi-spectral imaging) applied to production-grade deep learning.
5+ years of software project management involving internal and external stakeholders.
Experience integrating AI safety controls and optical fault-handling into PFMEAs, camera trigger reliability frameworks, and QCPs.
Expertise in synthetic data generation (GANs, VAEs, NeRFs, Blender) and domain randomization.
Experience with high-speed inline inspection and vision-based process control.
Knowledge of IIoT data pipelines and messaging standards.

Responsibilities

Design and implement computer vision models for defect detection, segmentation, and classification.
Accelerate training cycles using synthetic data, active learning, and domain randomization, including for rare edge-case defects.
Package models with Docker and manage deployments via Kubernetes (K8s) or equivalent orchestration.
Implement MLOps practices — version control, rollback strategies, and observability for latency, lighting drift, and false-positive/negative rates on production lines.
Optimize inference for edge/embedded hardware (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson, Intel accelerators) to meet real-time latency requirements for moving-line inspection.
Maintain consistent performance across varying lighting, optics, and surface conditions.
Integrate vision systems with PLCs, encoders, triggers, and industrial networks using OPC-UA, MQTT, and REST.
Align deployments with Toyota’s ICS+, GALC, and TVIP architecture standards for plant-level connectivity and reliability.
Lead defect image collection campaigns, manage annotation workflows, and set quality gates for model validation.
Use synthetic data pipelines and augmentation to improve robustness and reduce training time.
Meet uptime/availability targets through proactive monitoring, calibration (MSA), and backup/restore processes.
Implement drift detection, audit false negative risk, and conduct root cause analysis for inspection failures.
Pioneer new deflectometry, reflection, and multi-camera imaging technologies to elevate vehicle surface quality control.
Lead inspection booth software deployments from concept through SOP (Start of Production).
Evaluate optical AI solutions through on-site plant trials, compiling data for North American rollout.
Collaborate across NAMCs, Toyota Motor Corp (TMC), Toyota Technical Center (TTC), PE support shops, IT (One Tech), automation teams, and Enterprise AI divisions.

Benefits

A work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect.
Professional growth and development programs to help advance your career, as well as tuition reimbursement.
Team Member Vehicle Purchase Discount.
Toyota Team Member Lease Vehicle Program (if applicable).
Comprehensive health care and wellness plans for your entire family.
Toyota 401(k) Savings Plan featuring a company match, as well as an annual retirement contribution from Toyota regardless of whether you contribute (if applicable).
Paid holidays and paid time off.
Referral services related to prenatal services, adoption, childcare, schools, and more.
Tax-Advantaged Accounts (Health Savings Account, Health Care FSA, Dependent Care FSA).
Relocation assistance (if applicable).