Musashi AI North America, Inc. is a growing hardware and software focused company that builds smart vision solutions for quality assurance in manufacturing environments. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, Musashi AI North America employs a talented and dynamic team of R&D and Applications Engineers who lead design, prototyping, and testing efforts to drive new technology development, build innovative products, and support our deployed solutions.

The Lead AI Vision Engineer, responsible for prioritizing team tasks, defining growth plans, and ensuring high team performance, is the technical owner of delivery, planning, and architecture for the company’s AI/ML vision systems. You will set the technical roadmap, define how solutions are designed and built, and work alongside your engineers — reviewing implementation and acting as the technical sounding board the team brings ideas to. Driving new developments and translating computer vision research into robust, scalable production systems is at the core of the role, alongside keeping those systems running reliably as business needs evolve. As a team lead, you will be both a hands-on contributor and strategic leader, managing a high-performing team of AI/ML engineers. You will set the technical direction and AI strategy, shape the team’s structure, and drive its growth and development. The role is roughly 70% hands-on — architecture, new development, and technical reviews — and 30% leadership, including team skill-building, one-on-ones, and mentoring. The team lead will collaborate with cross-functional teams including optics, electrical and robotics, and dashboard analytics, and will influence strategic initiatives that drive cost reduction, productivity improvements, and long-term value.

Reports to: Director of Engineering

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Math, or a related field.
• 8+ years of overall engineering experience, including significant experience designing, deploying, and maintaining AI/ML solutions in production, with time spent in technical leadership or architecture roles.
• Proven track record owning delivery and architecture for production AI/ML or software systems — technical planning, system design, and hands-on implementation decisions.
• Strong experience applying computer vision algorithms to real-world production problems.
• Proficiency in Python, C, C++, and libraries such as OpenCV and CUDA.
• Expertise with frameworks such as TensorFlow and/or PyTorch.
• Strong understanding of edge computing technologies (e.g., Nvidia GPUs) and cloud computing platforms.
• Experience in industrial automation, automated inspection systems, or robotics is a strong asset.
• Strong mathematical, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead engineering delivery — setting technical direction, mentoring engineers, and reviewing implementation — in a collaborative team environment.

Job Responsibilities:

This role combines both strategic leadership and hands-on execution. To make the blend of responsibilities clear, they are grouped together below, showing how the Lead AI Vision Engineer balances direction setting, team management, and direct technical contributions.

Strategic Leadership

• Define the technical direction and long-term AI/ML strategy for Musashi AI North America.
• Provide strategic guidance on project planning, cost, risk management, and deployment feasibility.
• Define team structure, establish performance KPIs, and drive growth strategies for the AI/ML team.
• Prioritize engineering efforts and balance workloads across projects to meet key milestones.
• Own end-to-end delivery — plan the roadmap, identify efficiencies, streamline processes, and lead the team to ship reliably and on schedule.
• Present project updates, performance metrics, and future plans to internal stakeholders and leadership.

Operational & Hands-On Execution

• Lead the end-to-end deployment and integration of AI/ML models into production systems with a focus on scalability, performance, and robustness.
• Translate computer vision research and IP into production-ready, maintainable systems.
• Oversee maintenance and performance monitoring of deployed systems, ensuring minimal downtime and continuous improvement.
• Define and test models against production metrics and business KPIs.
• Conduct applied research to support product development and troubleshoot production issues.
• Monitor and evaluate new trends and technologies in AI/ML to guide internal strategy and tool adoption.
• Mentor junior engineers and drive team growth through recruitment, training, and performance development, fostering best practices across AI/ML and engineering teams.
• Travel to client and Musashi locations as needed for project execution and collaboration.

Preferred Skills:

• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and MLOps practices for deploying and updating ML systems.
• Experience with system monitoring, alerting, and observability tools for production AI.
• Understanding of cybersecurity best practices for ML systems in industrial environments.
• Experience productizing ML models with tools like TensorRT, TFLite, and model quantization.
• Ability to create, manage, and deploy deep learning datasets for computer vision tasks.
• Full-stack development experience (front-end, back-end, and systems integration) is an asset, as the role may include leading full-stack engineers alongside the AI/ML team.

Personal Attributes:

• Creative and analytical thinker with a proactive and solution-oriented mindset.
• Strong time management and organizational skills.
• Confident communicator who can convey complex technical ideas across teams.
• Professional, mature, and composed under pressure.
• Initiative-driven and comfortable leading through ambiguity.
• Collaborative and respectful team member who uplifts peers and contributes to team culture.

Musashi AI North America Expectations:

• Uphold company values, policies, and ethical standards.
• Be a champion of the Musashi Philosophy and 5S principles.
• Maintain adherence to all safety protocols and procedures.
• Contribute to the achievement of company and departmental goals.
• Engage constructively with peers and cross-functional collaborators.

Please note: This job description is not exhaustive. Duties and responsibilities may change at any time based on business needs.