Machine Vision Applications Engineer, San Francisco

Overview Corporation • San Francisco, CA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

Overview.ai is seeking a hands-on Machine Vision Applications Engineer to own imaging feasibility in its San Francisco lab. The engineer will work with customer samples before deployment, determining how to make defects visible and proving that imaging results are reliable and repeatable. The role involves conducting trials with real parts, optics, and lighting, and documenting what works and why. The position is intended for someone with machine vision experience at a vendor, distributor, or integrator who wants greater ownership and more challenging inspection problems.

The engineer will run the San Francisco lab, establish testing standards and hardware evaluation practices, and determine application feasibility. They will select and configure imaging components, build and document proofs of concept, troubleshoot image quality, evaluate hardware, and share findings that inform hardware decisions, deployment approaches, and customer guidance. The role is described as mid-level, with a path to becoming the technical voice on imaging as the lab and team grow.

The position is full-time and primarily in-office in San Francisco. Applicants should be based in the San Francisco Bay Area or willing to relocate.

Requirements

• Hands-on experience selecting and configuring lighting, lenses, and cameras to image parts for inspection or measurement.
• Experience conducting imaging trials, feasibility studies, or proof-of-concept testing on customer or production samples in a lab or demo environment.
• Working knowledge of optical trade-offs, including lens selection, field of view, working distance, depth of field, and resolution.
• Comfort working directly with hardware, running experiments independently, and solving problems.
• Ability to document findings clearly and explain technical trade-offs to customers and internal teams.
• Based in the San Francisco Bay Area or willing to relocate, and able to work primarily from the San Francisco office.

Nice To Haves

• Experience imaging difficult parts or surfaces, including reflective, specular, transparent, dark, or low-contrast materials.
• Experience with advanced lighting techniques such as dome, dark field, backlight, coaxial, polarized, or structured lighting.
• Experience with telecentric optics and precision measurement.
• Customer-facing technical experience, such as demos, application support, or on-site troubleshooting.
• Experience troubleshooting inspection performance in production, including false rejects, missed defects, and image quality variation.
• Familiarity with traditional machine vision software tools such as Cognex, Keyence, Matrox, Halcon, or Dalsa.

Responsibilities

• Run trials on incoming customer samples to determine whether and how inspections can be imaged reliably.
• Select and configure lighting, lenses, cameras, filters, and imaging geometry for applications.
• Set up and operate the San Francisco lab, including test standards, hardware inventory, sample handling, and result-recording practices.
• Build and document proofs of concept that provide Sales and Applications with defensible conclusions about system capabilities and limitations.
• Diagnose and resolve image quality problems that cause false rejects, missed defects, or inconsistent results.
• Test new cameras, lenses, and lighting, and recommend hardware for the company’s system stack.
• Document what worked, what did not, and why, so future engineers can build on prior findings.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed