Research Engineer; AI + Sports Job Pittsburgh area,Pennsylvania USA,Software Development

Position: Research Engineer (AI + Sports)

Research Engineers

Yinz Cam is seeking exceptional Research Engineers to lead the development of AI-driven video analysis and game analytics systems that power next-generation fan experiences in professional sports. This is a rare opportunity to conduct publishable research while building products that reach millions of fans in real time. You'll work at the cutting edge of computer vision and machine learning applied to sports, collaborating with leading academic researchers at Carnegie Mellon University while taking your innovations from prototype to production.

This role demands both research rigor and product sensibility. We value publication records and engineering excellence equally. This is a full-time, onsite position based in Pittsburgh, PA.

You will be at the forefront of establishing a new, in-house AI Research Lab within Yinz Cam, and working with multiple sports teams, leagues, and venues to apply AI to the fan experience and to business operations.

Core Responsibilities

Design and develop AI systems for real-time video understanding of live sporting events (player detection, action recognition, spatial analysis, etc.)
Build robust computer vision pipelines that handle challenging real-world footage (lighting, occlusion, multiple camera angles)
Explore novel architectures and techniques in modern CV to solve sports-specific problems

Develop AI systems to extract, aggregate, and interpret game data at scale across multiple sports, teams, and seasons
Create spatial and temporal analytics frameworks that surface actionable insights from video and sensor data
Build analytics platforms that scale from single games to league-wide deployments

Translate video understanding and analytics into engaging, intuitive experiences for millions of fans
Collaborate on product features that leverage AI (real-time highlights, personalized stats, interactive visualizations, etc.)
Ensure research outputs move through the full product development lifecycle

Core Goals

Publish Your Work:
We intend to publish the work coming out of these research projects. Papers will be published in top-tier CV/ML venues and presented at conferences.

Bridge Academia & Industry: Work directly with Prof. Priya Narasimhan (Carnegie Mellon University) and her research team to translate academic innovations into applied systems. Mentor CMU students, collaborate on research projects, and shape the next generation of sports AI researchers.

From Research to Product:
Own the path from prototype to production. You'll participate in design reviews, handle real-world deployment challenges, and see your ideas impact actual fan experiences at scale.

Core Requirements

PhD in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or a closely related field
Strong publication track record in top-tier venues (CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, etc.)
Deep expertise in modern computer vision techniques: neural networks, object detection, semantic/instance segmentation, action recognition, optical flow, pose estimation, or related areas
Proficiency in ML frameworks (PyTorch, Tensor Flow) and modern deep learning practices
Strong software engineering fundamentals:
Python, Java, AWS, SQL, Redshift, version control, testing, CI/CD
Demonstrated ability to implement complex systems end-to-end
Background in sports analytics, sports tech, or applied computer vision (industry, research, or both)
Genuine enthusiasm for sports and AI
Genuine enthusiasm for going beyond book learning, and to have ideas go into large-scale production

How To Apply

Please submit:

Your CV (with publication list)

A cover letter describing your research interests and why you're excited about this opportunity

Links to your top 2-3 publications that best represent your work