Application Vision Engineer

For this position, we hire people in Shanghai/Shenzhen/Nantong/Chengdu

AboutOverview.ai

Overview.ai is bringing the cutting edge of 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 across the world.

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 mission

Overview.ai is building the most powerful edge AI vision platform for manufacturing-deployed on real production lines, not in lab demos. Our AI is only as good as the images we feed it. That’s why this role exists.

We’re hiring a top-tier Vision Applications Engineer in China-someone who can walk up to a nasty inspection problem (reflective metal, transparent plastic, motion blur, awkward geometry, cramped mounting, unstable presentation) and immediately start forming a lighting + optics strategy that makes the problem solvable. You’ll be the person customers remember: the one who makes “impossible” inspections suddenly look obvious.

This role is vision-first. You don’t need to be a controls engineer. You do need to be an exceptional optical/lighting problem solver who can also own field execution: customer communication, on-site deployments, training, and project delivery.

Why this role is exciting

• Solve the hardest vision problems in the world: The customers we work with bring problems that break traditional machine vision. You’ll be in the deep end.
• Work with cutting-edge AI + real factories: You’ll turn great imaging into great AI outcomes-and see the impact immediately on yield and downtime.
• High autonomy, high trust: You’ll be the expert in the room, leading technical strategy and owning outcomes end-to-end.
• Win against incumbents: You’ll know the competitive landscape (Cognex, Keyence, HALCON, Hikvision, etc.) and use that knowledge to help us close deals and expand deployments.
• Travel + variety: New lines, new parts, new weird optical phenomena-this role stays interesting.

What you’ll own

1) Vision strategy: optics + lighting (core of the role)

You will design and iterate the imaging solution that makes inspection reliable:

• Select and tune lighting for challenging surfaces and geometries:
• bright field / dark field, coaxial, dome, diffuse, low-angle, structured light, line lights, spot/point, backlight, multisource setups
• polarization (cross/parallel), glare suppression, specular management
• strobed lighting vs continuous, high-speed exposure strategies, motion-freezing
• “2.5D” techniques: photometric-style approaches, multi-angle illumination, gradient/shape enhancement
• Select and deploy lenses and optical elements:
• telecentric, macro, high-NA, long working distance, wide-angle vs narrow, Scheimpflug (tilt) where appropriate
• filters (bandpass, long-pass/short-pass), polarizers, diffusers, beam splitters
• mirrors/prisms for impossible mounting angles and constrained spaces
• Push beyond visible light when needed:
• IR / NIR / SWIR (and other spectral strategies), multispectral approaches, fluorescence-style thinking where relevant
• Diagnose and solve “weird” vision failure modes:
• reflectivity, transparency, subsurface features, moiré, aliasing, lens flare/ghosting, vibration blur, rolling shutter artifacts, shadowing/occlusion, contamination drift

The bar: you can often tease out a workable imaging approach just by looking at the part + environment, then validate it quickly in the field.

2) Project ownership: deploy, stabilize, scale

• Own customer deployments end-to-end: planning, on-site execution, training, follow-through.
• Drive fast iteration cycles: image capture → lighting/lens adjustments → validation → production-ready setup.
• Train customer teams (process/quality/ops) on:
• daily operation, basic troubleshooting, re-validation after maintenance, and how to keep image quality stable.
• Create clear documentation and “golden configs” that make future rollouts faster.

3) Competitive expertise: help us win

• Maintain a strong working knowledge of the machine vision ecosystem and competitor offerings:
• Cognex, Keyence, HALCON/MVTec, Hikrobot/Hikvision, and other common players.
• Participate in pre-sales technical discovery and solutioning:
• help position Overview.ai intelligently, identify where incumbents will fail, and propose imaging strategies that make our AI shine.
• Feed market intelligence back into product and go-to-market teams.

Who you are

Required

• Deep, hands-on machine vision experience with a heavy emphasis on lighting + optics (not just “camera setup”)
• Track record solving difficult inspections in production environments (reflective/transparent, tight geometry, high speed, variable presentation)
• Strong practical knowledge of the lighting and lens landscape:
• you understand the tradeoffs and failure modes, not just the catalog names
• Ability to operate independently in factories and own outcomes
• Mandarin fluency (native or near-native)
• Working English for collaboration with global engineering/product teams
• Strong communication skills: you can explain optical strategies clearly to customers and teammates

Strong preferences

• Experience building vision solutions across multiple industries (electronics, automotive, connectors, batteries, packaging, etc.)
• Experience with advanced optical methods (telecentric, polarization, structured light, multi-angle, spectral techniques)
• Comfort running field experiments quickly and methodically (hypothesis → test → iterate)

What success looks like

• Customers trust you as the vision expert who can solve “impossible” inspections.
• You consistently deliver stable, repeatable imaging configurations that make AI performance excellent.
• You help win deals by out-thinking incumbents and demonstrating superior solutioning.
• You turn one-off optical victories into reusable playbooks, reference setups, and standards.

WhyOverview.ai (why top candidates join)

• Extreme growth + real-world impact: We’re not building demos. We’re deploying AI systems on real production lines, at scale.
• Talent density: You’ll work with world-class engineers and operators across AI, embedded systems, and enterprise deployment.
• Front-row seat to the AI manufacturing wave: This is one of the biggest transformations happening in industry right now.
• Ownership: In this role, your work directly changes the trajectory of the company. Great hiring = winning.
• Global exposure: You’ll recruit for roles that touch the most advanced customers and factories in the world.