Advanced Innovation Manufacturing Engineer

Magnit Direct Sourcing on behalf of Toyota is seeking an Advanced Innovation Manufacturing Engineer for a 12-month contract assignment in Georgetown, Kentucky. Pay range: $50.00–$68.00/hour. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, and 401K.

About the Role

Reporting to the Manufacturing Innovation Manager, this role supports the Production Engineering Division and SOAR Group’s objective to improve manufacturing competitiveness through the development and deployment of production-grade machine learning models for industrial vision inspection systems.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement computer vision models for defect detection, segmentation, and classification.
• Accelerate training cycles using synthetic data, active learning, and domain randomization to cover rare defects and specification variance.
• Package models and services using Docker and manage deployments through Kubernetes or equivalent orchestration tools; implement version control, rollback strategies, and observability for latency, drift, and false-positive/false-negative metrics.
• Optimize inference for edge and embedded hardware (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson, Intel accelerators) to meet strict real-time latency requirements for moving-line inspection; ensure consistent performance under varying lighting, optics, and surface conditions.
• Integrate vision systems with PLCs, encoders, triggers, and industrial networks using OPC-UA, MQTT, and REST protocols; align deployments with ICS+, GALC, and TVIP architecture standards for plant-level connectivity and reliability.
• Lead data collection campaigns, manage annotation workflows, and establish quality gates for model validation; utilize synthetic data pipelines and augmentation techniques to improve model robustness and reduce training time.
• Ensure uptime and availability targets are met through proactive monitoring, calibration (MSA), and backup/restore processes; implement drift detection, audit false-out risks, and perform root cause analysis for inspection failures.
• Develop and deploy containerized software optimized for edge hardware, ensuring high accuracy and generalization.
• Lead and manage projects from concept to launch for new technology first introduction to manufacturing, including creating schedules, establishing punch lists, and meeting due dates and milestones.
• Search for innovative solutions, test them in a manufacturing setting, and develop business case justification to gain approval for purchase if trials prove successful.
• Collaborate with internal and external groups to integrate robust AI solutions into high-volume manufacturing environments.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• 2+ years (5+ preferred) of experience in industrial machine vision and edge AI deployment.
• Proficiency in Python and C++ with strong knowledge of ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow).
• Hands-on experience with containerization (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with ONNX Runtime, TensorRT, and optimization for embedded hardware.
• Experience integrating vision systems with PLCs and industrial protocols (OPC-UA, MQTT).
• Experience managing the full model lifecycle: data collection, labeling, validation, rollout, monitoring, and retraining.
• Experience in object detection, classification, segmentation, and familiarity with mainstream object detection and semantic/instance segmentation models.
• Familiarity with industrial cameras, lighting, and optics, including trigger-based image capture.
• Experience balancing inspection accuracy with false positives vs. flow-out risk in quality-critical applications.
• Ability to travel to all North American Manufacturing Centers, including Canada, Mexico, and Japan (25% or less).
• Project management experience, including writing detailed scope of work, creating schedules, managing vendors/contractors, and providing regular status updates.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Engineering or related field.
• 2–5 years of experience (10+ years may qualify for a higher rate).
• Academic research experience in new technology.
• Project management work involving internal and external parties (6 months or greater).
• Experience deploying equipment, including establishing RJ, PFMEA, and quality control plans.
• Experience deploying automotive production equipment.
• Experience in robotics, including operation, teaching, maintenance, and safety.
• Expertise in synthetic data generation techniques (GANs, VAEs, NeRFs, Blender) and domain randomization for model generalization.
• Experience with high-speed inline inspection systems and vision-based process control.
• Knowledge of IIoT data pipelines and messaging standards.
• Strong understanding of calibration, measurement system analysis (MSA), and quality-critical inspection requirements.

Skills

• Ability to deliver production-ready AI solutions under strict timelines.
• Strong problem-solving and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Commitment to quality, reliability, and continuous improvement in manufacturing environments.

Pay

$50.00–$68.00/hour.

Schedule

12-month contract assignment.

Benefits

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401K

Work authorization: Green Card or US citizenship required. Applicants must have the right to work in the United States without requiring sponsorship now or in the future.