Forward Deployed Engineer; Montreal

Responsibilities

• Embed with two to four Quebec manufacturing accounts as the primary technical contact for AI deployments.
• Lead end‑to‑end deployments of AI vision systems at customer facilities – from shop‑floor scoping through production handoff.
• Integrate with the customers’ full operational stack: industrial communication protocols (OPC‑UA, Modbus TCP, PLCs), edge AI inference (NVIDIA Jetson), ERP, and cloud data environment.
• Own the entire deployment lifecycle: software configuration, system validation, integration testing, and production handoff with a formal handover artifact for the LTS team.
• Troubleshoot software, networking, and integration issues in live production environments.
• Document deployment configurations, system behaviors, and best practices.
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact during and after deployment.
• Train customer operators and engineers on‑site and remotely, in French and English.
• Participate in pre‑sales calls and scoping sessions alongside sales.
• Translate AI value to non‑specialists, explaining model performance, accuracy thresholds, and ROI in business terms.
• Build relationships with customer technical leads for long‑term adoption.
• Build, deploy, and iterate production AI deployments end‑to‑end, owning the customer’s side data flywheel (edge‑cloud data capture, model deployment, inference monitoring, and feedback loop).
• Shape the core product roadmap – field experience directly informs new platform capabilities and reusable solutions.
• Codify deployment patterns and contribute to internal tooling so each mandate strengthens the platform and speeds future deployments.
• Support data collection and annotation efforts at customer sites when needed.

Must‑Haves:

• 6+ years of experience combining production software engineering with industrial automation and/or applied AI.
• Strong production Python skills and a proven track record shipping systems to customer infrastructure.
• Hands‑on experience with industrial communication and/or edge AI deployment (OPC‑UA, Modbus, PLC integration, Jetson, GenICam / industrial vision systems).
• Cloud experience – comfortable deploying and operating services in AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Solid software fundamentals:
  Python, Linux, Docker, Git, and deploying to edge hardware.
• Solid networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, VLANs, firewalls) as they apply to industrial deployments.
• Customer‑facing seniority – ability to lead discovery workshops, architecture reviews, and executive briefings in the same week.
• Bilingual French and English – run discovery workshops in French and produce technical design documents in English.
• High agency and bias for action – able to operate well in ambiguity and ship production code on customer infrastructure.

Nice‑to‑Haves:

• Direct experience deploying AI/ML models in production on customer infrastructure.
• Industrial automation at large – PLC integration, controls, manufacturing systems.
• Industrial vision (GenICam / GigE cameras, OpenCV, optical intuition).
• Specific ERP integration – SAP, Oracle, or similar.
• Jetson AGX experience (flash, BSP, Docker edge, embedded Linux).
• AI/ML inference pipelines and real‑time systems.
• Background in mobile robotics, drones, ROV/AUV, or remotely piloted vehicles.
• Background in food and beverage, CPG, automotive, packaging, or wood processing.
• Experience in a startup or high‑growth environment with multiple hats.

Based in Quebec – 100% remote, working from home anywhere in Quebec with periodic on‑site travel (up to 25%) to manufacturing customers for commissioning, discovery, troubleshooting, and relationship building.

Competitive compensation and benefits. The role includes a subscription to AI tools such as Cursor / Claude Code, with a focus on daily AI workflow integration.