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AI/Software Engineer (Entry Level) -- Deployment & Applications Engineering

Encore Automation | Auburn Hills, MI (On-site) | Full-Time

Travel: Occasional travel to automotive manufacturing plants required, including occasional weekend travel

About Encore Automation

Encore Automation designs and deploys AI-powered computer vision and automation systems for automotive manufacturing environments, with a core division focused on paint defect detection and repair. Our systems runs in production on the plant floor, supporting automated defect inspection, robotic repair processes, and quality automation for major automotive manufacturers across the United States. We're looking for someone who wants to see their AI models actually running on a factory floor, not just in a notebook.

The Role

We're hiring an entry-level AI/Software Engineer to join our deployment and support team. This role is built around keeping deployed AI systems running reliably in the field, not primarily building new software from scratch. You'll be the engineer plants call on when the system pipeline needs troubleshooting on the line.

This is a hands-on, travel role. You should be energized by the idea of flying or driving out to a plant on short notice, working directly with operators and engineers on-site, and being the person who makes sure the system is actually working when it matters.

What You'll Do

• Travel to automotive manufacturing plants across the United States to install, calibrate, troubleshoot, and support deployed AI vision systems for paint defect detection and repair (object detection, classification, and segmentation models)

• Provide on-site technical support during commissioning, ramp-up, and ongoing production runs — including responding to urgent plant issues that may require travel outside standard business hours or over a weekend

• Diagnose and resolve issues in deployed models, cameras, PLC/robot integrations, and supporting software with speed and precision

• Perform model fine-tuning, retraining, and validation in response to real-world plant conditions (lighting changes, new parts, new fixtures, etc.)

• Maintain, code and extend existing Python and C# codebases that support inference pipelines, GUIs, and plant-floor integrations

• Document fixes, root causes, and recurring issues to improve system reliability over time

• Collaborate closely with the engineering team in Auburn Hills between travel assignments to prepare deployments and improve support tooling

• Build strong working relationships with plant personnel to make on-site support smooth and efficient

What You Bring

• B.S. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field (new grads welcome and encouraged to apply)

• Proficiency in C# and Python — C# for our production codebase, which you'll read, debug, and extend daily. Python is used for model development, fine-tuning, and validation.

• Coursework or project experience with AI/Machine Learning, including hands-on work developing or training models for classification, object detection, and/or segmentation

• Comfort working with real-world, messy data and adapting models to production conditions rather than clean benchmark datasets

• Strong troubleshooting instincts, comfortable diagnosing problems under time pressure, sometimes with limited on-site resources

• Ability to work in-person at our Auburn Hills office

• Strong communication skills — you'll be representing Encore Automation directly to plant personnel

Preferred Qualifications

• Local to the Metro Detroit area, available to be in our Auburn Hills, MI office

• Experience with computer vision frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, OpenCV, YOLO-family models, ONNX)

• Hands-on experience with vision camera hardware and core imaging concepts — depth of field, motion blur, pixel-to-millimeter conversion, and gain/exposure/aperture settings, along with familiarity with lens selection and lighting techniques (e.g., diffuse, backlighting, dark-field) used in machine vision applications

• Familiarity with agentic coding assistants and related tooling — e.g., Claude Code, MCP (Model Context Protocol), ACP, or similar — is a plus

• Familiarity with industrial/manufacturing environments, PLCs, or robotics is a plus but not required

What Makes This Role Different

This isn't a purely R&D or greenfield-development role. The emphasis is on support, reliability, and maintenance of AI & Software systems already running in production — troubleshooting real issues on real plant floors, keeping systems accurate as conditions change, and being a dependable presence when plants need help. If you want to see your work matter on day one, in a real factory, this is that role.