Staff Systems Engineer (Imaging & Optics)

About the Role

As the Staff Systems Engineer, you will play a key technical leadership role in the design, integration, and deployment of complex, end-to-end systems that are essential to our clients AI’s mission of shaping smarter, more efficient cities. In this role, you will own the architecture, requirements gathering, and system-level design of integrated hardware-software solutions, driving projects from concept through deployment and support. You will report into the Engineering Leadership Team and work closely with hardware, software, operations, product, customer engineering, and field deployment teams. We’re looking for someone with a deep background in systems engineering, proven project leadership experience, and a collaborative, solutions-driven mindset. This position is based in [City] and follows a hybrid schedule with at least 3 days in-office per week.

Key Responsibilities

Below are your primary responsibilities. These represent the core areas where you’ll make an impact. As part of a rapidly evolving team, we look forward to your impact expanding over time.

• Lead the architecture, requirements gathering, and system-level design of integrated hardware-software solutions
• Drive end-to-end project execution, ensuring systems are delivered on-time and meet functional, operational, and quality targets
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align priorities and resolve technical challenges
• Interface with customers and internal stakeholders to translate operational requirements into actionable technical plans
• Ensure deployment readiness, supporting installations, configuration, and integration in the field
• Identify and troubleshoot system issues, root causes, and implement corrective actions
• Document design decisions, interfaces, and lessons learned for future scalability
• Contribute to process improvement across systems engineering and deployment practices

 Required Qualifications

The qualifications below outline the experience and skills most relevant to success in this role. We recognize that skills and potential come in many forms, and we welcome diverse experiences that advance our mission.

Experience:

• 8+ years of systems engineering experience designing and deploying complex, integrated systems
• Proven success leading technical projects from requirements and design through implementation and deployment

 Core Skills:

• Strong understanding of both hardware (sensors, networking, embedded or edge devices) and software (systems integration, APIs, cloud services)
• Excellent problem-solving, troubleshooting, and cross-functional communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to write clear technical documentation and requirements

 Personal Attributes:

• Collaborative and solutions-oriented
• Adaptable, proactive, and comfortable working in fast-paced, evolving environments
• Strong organizational and leadership skills

 Education:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field

Nice to Have:

• Experience in urban mobility, transportation, or fleet technology environments
• Exposure to IoT, computer vision, or large-scale sensor/data platforms
• Experience interacting directly with customers or field deployment teams
• Familiarity with cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, or similar)