Camera Architect

Meta•Redmond, WA

13h•$173,000 - $245,000

About The Position

As a Camera Architect, you will define and own the end-to-end imaging architecture of camera subsystems — single-camera or multi-camera — for Meta's AR and VR product lines, serving photography, computer vision, and contextual-AI feature pipelines. Working alongside dedicated sensor, lens, and module design teams, you will drive the foundational HW trade-off decisions about how these elements come together into a coherent imaging solution — defining camera-level requirements, performance targets, and the system-level choices (focus/stabilization strategy, spatial layout, calibration approach, power budgets, imaging KPIs) that shape how individual components integrate to deliver product features. You will maintain a strong line-of-sight to the end-to-end imaging and AI-feature pipelines so that architecture decisions directly enable day-0 commitments for both capture quality and on-device intelligence.

Requirements

MS or PhD in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related discipline (or BS + equivalent depth of experience)
8+ years in camera/imaging system architecture or design, with direct ownership of HW specification, trade-off analysis, and architecture decisions at the camera-system level
Experience architecting complete imaging systems from first-principles physics, optics, and sensor science — making defensible trade-offs and reasoning to the theoretical upper bound of what is achievable, even without deep specialization in any one component technology
Experience driving architecture-level trade-offs across image sensor technology (CMOS, BSI/stacked, global shutter, HDR) and camera module design (lens, AF/OIS actuator systems, packaging, active alignment) in partnership with specialist teams
Experience building the quantitative, data-driven case for camera architecture decisions — defining metrics and figures of merit that link camera HW performance to feature quality across photography, computer vision and AI/ML

Nice To Haves

Working understanding of signal processing and computational photography principles — enough to identify where HW innovation hits diminishing returns and SW/algorithm optimization is more cost-effective
Experience modeling camera image quality end-to-end from hardware modules through ISP and S/W pipelines to analyze key performance indicators and inform architectural decisions based on trade-offs
Experience co-defining camera HW requirements with ISP, ML/AI and CV teams
Experience with product managers and industrial design teams in translating product vision into requirements through multiple product cycles
Track record of proactively shaping product roadmaps through technical foresight and analysis into actionable recommendations for leadership
Experience influencing key partners, internal and external, on roadmap and technology development

Responsibilities

Define and defend the camera subsystem architecture — whether a single camera or a multi-camera system — driving how sensors, lenses, actuators, and modules integrate into a coherent imaging solution. This includes focus strategy (fixed-focus vs. AF), image stabilization approach (OIS, EIS-friendly design, hybrid), camera placement geometry, and calibration methodology. The architecture must serve photography use cases; computer vision workloads and contextual-AI features
Distill a broad, often competing set of requirements — from product, system, software, and feature teams — into the smallest option space the team can realistically execute - finding the minimal camera system that satisfies the feature set while resisting HW complexity beyond what the features actually require
Drive sensor-level and imaging-performance trade studies (resolution, pixel size, sensitivity/SNR, dynamic range, frame rate, power, size, cost; fixed-focus depth-of-field vs. AF complexity; rolling vs. global shutter
Define the metrics and figures of merit that connect product features and user experiences to underlying camera HW performance. Establish quantitative linkage between feature KPIs (e.g., photo quality, video stabilization, ML model accuracy, tracking robustness, passthrough latency) and camera HW specs (MTF, SNR, dynamic range, frame sync, motion blur, FoV), and build the data-driven case for recommended camera selections and generational improvements
Translate product features across those workload classes into component- and module-level HW specifications — optical performance, module thermal envelope, power budget, data rates, interfaces, multi-camera synchronization/timestamping, and calibration tolerances that support factory-scale manufacturing
Partner with silicon architecture teams on ISP and sensor-companion-chip requirements, influencing HW/FW partitioning decisions that affect camera subsystem performance, power, and feature enablement (3A, actuator control, frame timing, AI pre-processing)
Communicate technical details, risks, and pathways to success across a product stack and with cross-functional teams
Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 10%