AI​/ML Engineer – Manufacturing Vision Inspection Systems

Engineer

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.

What you'll be doing:

• Model Development & Training

  • 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.

• Production Deployment & MLOps

  • 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.

• Edge Optimization

  • 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.

• Manufacturing System Integration

  • 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.

• Data Strategy & Quality Control

  • 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.

• Reliability & Sustainment

  • 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.

• Innovation & Collaboration

  • 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.

What you bring:

• 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).

Added bonus if you have:

• 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.

What we'll bring:

During your interview process, our team can fill you in on all the details of our industry-leading benefits and career development opportunities. A few highlights include:

• 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).

Belonging at Toyota

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